


FFXV: The Stars Come Crashing Down

by Skylerius



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Altered Lore, Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Ages May Be Altered, Childhood Friends, Etro is Pissed, Female Friendship, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Iris is important, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, No Smut, Original Lore Content, Pitioss Ruins Theory, Prepare to Love Ardyn, Who Is Izunia?, lore heavy, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2020-05-16 07:04:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19313080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylerius/pseuds/Skylerius
Summary: The Astrals are arrogant. They have forgotten about the true gods who even they must fear. It is time that they were reminded. Etro takes it upon herself to brush away Bahamut's prophecy, replacing a Sacrifice with a Gift to save the lives of the Oracle and the True King.What seemed like a curse on the line of Lucis has come to an end, as the royal family welcomes two heirs rather than just one. Siblings, born and bonded for the first time in written history, destined to heal the wounds left by angry gods and a family torn apart.





	1. Prologue

 

 

 

.:.~.:. _  
_

_"Saints" - Echos_

_.:.~.:._

_You were standing there like an angry god_  
_Counting all my sins just to cross them off_  
 _Saying that my tongue was too loud to trust_  
 _And that my blood couldn't keep you_  
  
_My dear, you're not so innocent_  
 _You're fooling Heaven's gates_  
 _So you won't have to change_  
 _You're no saint, you're no savior_

.:.~.:. _  
_

 

Carbuncle was not a creature who really knew fear; he acted under the protection of a goddess, as her Messenger. All he did was supervised by a great and powerful entity, someone even more powerful than the six Astrals who slumbered all across Eos. Yet, he did feel the faintest twinge of nerves as he flickered into existence in the mortal realm, a shimmer of golden light signifying his arrival just a few moments before he appeared, his paws delicately touching down on the glossy tile floor of a room deep within the heart of the Citadel. It was the dead of night, a heavy, suffocating silence resting over the palace, whose great walls isolated it from the noise and bustle of the city beyond. It was as if it was its own little world, apart from the rest of Insomnia.

Blinking to allow his eyes to adjust to the stifling darkness of the room, Carbuncle drew in a breath, his large ears laying flat against his back. He could feel her... she loomed behind him, her energy pulsing forth in a steady beat, resonating through the Citadel. He could feel it seep through the floors, his paws tingling as it crept up his legs and filled him with a most dreadful feeling of sorrow.

Slowly, he turned around, and there he saw her. The Crystal, raised up on a dais and nestled between two great black pillars, an eerie blue light oozing out of the massive wound across one side of her, baring her innards to the world. How vulnerable she felt. How helpless.

There was another presence within her, one that stirred and rumbled upon noticing Carbuncle standing there in her light.

**_Insignificant creature... who sends you here?_ **

The voice that came rumbling through the air did not touch his ears, but instead pounded on his tiny skull so hard it should have driven him to the floor, but he stood his ground. His master was not known to the Astrals, who in all their pride and anguish, had long forgotten the gods which even they were to fear and serve. She sent him her strength, and he in turn carried out her will.

He shook out his fur, then trotted forward, responding, _I'm not here to chat, Bahamut. I have more important things to do, but first, I have to deliver a message._

**_You dare come before me and speak to a god in this way?_ **

Carbuncle simply tilted his head, his eyes shining with a golden light. _The gate to the World Unseen has opened. The Mourner has sent her own champion to deliver the Usurper and the King from your hubris, the Scourge of our Star._

He could feel Bahamut's rage resonate from the Crystal, but another force slowly began to press down on the Bladekeeper, compressing his presence under the force of her own, suffocating him. The light from the Crystal's heart shone brighter, hotter, her pulse growing faster as Bahamut's voice grew softer.

A glimmer of warmth and hope ignited in Carbuncle's chest, and he bowed his head to the Crystal. _This time, things will be different! The departed now returns._

Suddenly, all at once, Bahamut's voice was snuffed out by the Crystal. Silence gripped the Citadel as she sat in her beautiful, gilded cage, awaiting the arrival of the one she was Promised.

 

 

.:.~.:.

_So keep your judgment for someone else, I've had enough  
And keep your judgment for someone else, I've had enough  
So keep your judgment for someone else, I've had enough  
And keep your judgment for someone else, I've had enough_

.:.~.:.

There was no such thing as missing one of his wife's ultrasounds when the Citadel had its own medical ward, complete with all the necessary equipment for checking up on the health of the Queen and the future heir of Insomnia. King Regis Lucis Caelum, the 113th king of Lucis, was dutifully by his wife's side as she awkwardly shuffled about to get comfortable on the small bed, rolling up the hem of her lacy, deep black shirt to bare her gently sloped stomach for the technician. He rested one of his hands over hers, taking a seat in a small chair that had been pushed up to the bed for his comfort, and did his best to suppress a chuckle when Aulea wrinkled up her nose at the cold feeling of the gel the ultrasound technician squirted onto her skin.

"You wouldn't be laughing if it was you," Aulea complained when Regis couldn't hold in a few little snorts, making a face at him.

"I'm sorry, my love," Regis replied, though he wasn't really sorry at all, wearing a warm, mischievous grin on his face as his wife rolled her eyes and settled in, trying to get more comfortable as the technician readied the ultrasound probe. He chuckled again, giving her hand a soft pat, and she sneakily stuck her tongue out at him when she didn't think the technician, or the royal midwife standing behind her like a wisened old gargoyle, were looking.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" The technician smiled cheerfully at the couple, gently pressing the ultrasound reader to Aulea's middle, the spreading the gel around with it as she maneuvered it across the generous baby bump that disrupted her normally-slender frame.

Regis leaned his head closer to his wife's, his beard tickling her cheek as they looked up at the screen that displayed the first hazy grey images of the ultrasound. This wasn't the first ultrasound, with Aulea now in her second trimester, though they were hoping to get a better look at the baby than they had previously; they were hoping to be able to see tiny arms and legs now, rather than just a grainy grey blob surrounded by a sea of black. Regis wanted to get some newer sonogram equipment that had very detailed imaging, but that required a lot of planning, considering that would mean allowing people to come into the Citadel to install the new equipment. Security details, background checks, and having all the elements of machinery checked for listening devices or explosives took time. Hopefully, they would have it all sorted in the next couple of weeks, so future ultrasounds would show the baby heir in all of his or her tiny glory.

After a few moments of the technician sliding the probe across Aulea's middle, the constant, grainy grey background of the screen shifted to show a large black bubble, and within that bubble was a tiny white silhouette. She lifted her free hand to point at the little blob floating in the black expanse. "There's the little one! Let's get a slightly better angle, and... here we go. This is the head right here, and see the arms and legs? At this stage, all of the little one's fingers and toes are forming."

Aulea broke into an excited grin, turning her wide sapphire-blue eyes on Regis for a moment before looking back up at the screen. He gave her a hand a gentle squeeze, feeling equally excited at seeing their future child on the screen, even if just as a hazy silhouette. Even the stoic midwife, a woman who had seen Regis himself come squalling into the world thirty years ago, wore a small smile as she gazed upon some of the earliest images of the next royal child she would help be born.

"We should hopefully be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl soon, though it might still be a bit early for-- oh..." The technician rather abruptly stopped talking, her hand freezing with the probe pressed gently, but firmly to Aulea's side.

Everyone in the room paused for a moment as the technician slowly maneuvered the probe further down along Aulea's side, and a sliver of black appeared just to the side of the already-visible bubble containing the little unborn heir. The midwife flattened her mouth into a flat line, smile vanishing, while the technician pursed her lips, slowly moving the probe around to get a better look at the anomaly.

"What is it?" Aulea asked nervously, her face paling as she clutched onto Regis' hand.

The king himself could scarcely breathe, already feeling his heart beginning to break as he anticipated being told that something was wrong. That before even being born, their child would face severe complications, chronic health troubles, or perhaps not even make it to the end of the nine months that would grant them life.

After a few more agonizing seconds of silence, the sliver of black grew into a second bubble on the screen, a small shape nestled against one side of it. A somewhat bean-like shape, with a large head and tiny, scrawny limbs curled tight to its belly like a frog.

Eyes wide with shock, the midwife whispered, "By the gods..."

The technician broke into a shaky smile, a hint of something akin to panic in her eyes as she said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, Your Grace... it seems you're expecting twins."

Aulea's jaw dropped open in disbelief, her eyes going so round he was sure they would pop out of her head. "Twins...? As in... as in _two?_ "

The midwife lifted one hand to her forehead and muttered something to herself, while the technician breathlessly chuckled. "Yes, Your Grace. See, here, this is Baby A... there's the head..." She traced her fingertip along the screen. "And over here is Baby B. They're settled a little further back, closer to your spine and behind Baby A, which is why we didn't notice them before. They're definitely fraternal..."

Aulea blinked a few times, her grip on Regis' hand so tight that her knuckles turned white as she stared at the two little baby beans on the screen. Then she raised her free hand to her face and started to laugh, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "Dear Shiva, _two?_ Regis!"

Regis still hadn't been able to find a response, or even a single active brain cell. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but couldn't seem to make any words come out, just opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, gasping for breath.

"Are you... alright, Your Majesty?" The technician asked sheepishly, and the midwife's solemn grey eyes were immediately on her king, as if preparing for him to faint and fall right out of his chair.

"I..." Regis stammered, then swallowed and cleared his throat. "I'm... quite alright..." He didn't feel dizzy, at least, so he doubted the possibility of fainting.

Laughing harder, Aulea leaned her head back against the pillow. "Alright?! What have we _done?!_ You and Cor aren't going to let me walk to the bathroom by myself, nevermind get any work done! And the whole of Insomnia is going to lose their wits once this gets out!"

Regis lifted his free hand to rub at his face, starting to break into stunned, breathless chuckles as his wife continued to laugh so hard she cried. He ducked his head to rest it against her shoulder, and she clumsily patted his hair, the two of them dissolving into laughter and tears together as they rejoiced in the panic of knowing that there was not just one heir on the way, but _two_ , for the first time in recorded history.


	2. Loyalty and Light (Pt. I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction to some of the characters and their relationships with one another, particularly the "OC" of this series, Valeriana Lucis Caelum, twin sister to Noctis, though that is not all there is to her character. More information about the circumstances of her birth and her origins will be revealed in later chapters. For now, just some fluff and a lot of base lore, before shit hits the fan and the drama and adventures start.
> 
> Similarly to how the chocobros all have their talents/hobbies, Val has her falconry. It was interesting, and I felt a bit more original than having her be a female healer, or enjoy drawing or something. A little more badass, too. >83c Lucian Crown Eagles are a fake species of eagle inspired by Golden Eagles, which also grow to be humongous. 
> 
> More friendship fun to be had in the next chapter, along with Iris' introduction!

 

.:.~.:. _  
_

_Lucian Crown Eagle: A massive species of eagle bred and kept by Lucian nobility over the generations, distinguishable by their mottled brown feathering with distinctive black banding on the tail and wings. They are truly enormous birds, with females weighing in at an average of 15 pounds, with a wingspan of over eight feet long, males being marginally smaller. They are known to be extremely social and intelligent creatures, used for hunting and companionship alike.  
_

.:.~.:. _  
_

 

"So cool!" Prompto was just about ready to bounce out of his seat as he leaned against the window of the car, gazing up at the steps of the Citadel as it stretched up towards the blue summer sky. His seatbelt was pressed up against his neck instead of resting properly on his shoulder, something Ignis simply could not _stand,_ but it seemed he had given up on scolding the blonde and demanding he sit properly. "And your Dad-- I mean, the King is seriously okay with me hanging out for a while?"

"You wouldn't have gotten past the gate if he wasn't," Noctis grumbled from beside him. As opposed to leaning against his seatbelt, he was slouched down, his elbow resting against the door and cheek resting in his palm. Ignis had given up on him, too, for the time being.

The only one sitting properly was Valeriana, who was in the front passenger seat with her phone in her hand, tapping away at the touch screen with black-painted fingernails, the polish already starting to chip despite the fact that she had painted them only a few days ago. She looked up from her phone to look back at the boys, adding, "Yeah, he agreed to let us have a little fun. We've been working so hard lately, and it's summer break."

"Ah, the life of a royal," Prompto sighed a bit humorously, giving a smile.

"No kidding," Noctis grumbled, "Try being the crown prince."

"Hey, it's not much easier being your sister, you know. I have to clean up your social messes while Iggy cleans up your physical ones." Valeriana rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat as Ignis drove the car around to its parking place by the Citadel's east entrance. The doors at the top of the grand staircase were just one way in, leading straight towards the throne room, with side entrances being used to more easily reach the living and working quarters of the residents and staff.

"Glad to know that someone has noticed my efforts," Ignis mused, drawing the car to a halt and shutting off the engine.

"Of course, Iggy. And thanks for driving us, by the way."

"Yeah, thanks!" Prompto chirped, eagerly unbuckling his seatbelt and swinging open the door to get out of the car. Noctis followed suit, but Valeriana stayed put until Ignis walked around the front of the car and opened her door for her; it was a habit he had since they were little and he got through his first few etiquette courses. _Always open the door for a lady,_ he'd say, and Noctis would just stick out his tongue and insist his twin sister was a swamp monster, not a lady. Still, Val had always let Ignis get the car door for her, not having the heart to undermine his pride in the little things he did.

Turning to swing one leg out of the car, she rose to her feet and smiled at Ignis,who gave one of his little 'soft breath out the nose, smile faintly in amusement' expressions in response as he gently closed the car's door behind her. Noctis was already leading Prompto inside, so the two hurried a bit to catch up, walking at their heels as they passed by a few Crownsguard stationed by the entrance, who raised their arms in a salute and bowed their heads to the children of their King.

It was certainly strange, being only seventeen years old and having grown adults bow to you. They were used to it, but at the same time, Val had also gotten used to the way people treated her like a normal teenager at the private school their father let them go to. It was nice to be able to drop most of the pomp and strain that came with being royalty for just a few hours, so she could gossip about celebrities and eat lunchroom pizza like any other high school girl. There was still no denying that she and Noctis had a hard time making -- and keeping -- real friends throughout the years, considering there was still a lot they _couldn't_ do, and a lot of people just wanted to get to know them because of their status, but Prompto was one who had managed to stick around for the past two years. All he cared about was playing video games with them and snapping pictures with his camera when he thought Noct wasn't looking. She was pretty sure he was a keeper.

"Wow..." Prompto whistled as they entered the Citadel and made their way down one of its many halls. "I've seen pictures of the inside, but it seems so much... bigger in person."

"It was the best for playing when we were kids," Noctis chuckled, glancing back at his sister and Ignis. "Wasn't it?"

Val nodded, while Ignis just wore a warm smile at the memories. "Yeah. We had to have some pretty strict rules for hide-and-seek, since there's just so many places to run and hide. Can't tell you how many times they had to send out a guard to find one of us who had gotten a little carried away with their hiding and ended up somewhere we really couldn't be found."

Prompto laughed, then teased, "Aww, I bet you were all cute kids!"

"I'm told I always seemed old beyond my years, but our Royal Highnesses did have a certain charm about them," Ignis agreed. "There are portraits of them about the Citadel, if you care to look."

"Hey, we're not here to look at embarrassing baby pictures," Val argued, squeezing between Prompto and Noctis to emerge ahead of the group, so she could turn around and walk backwards to face them. "We're here to hang out, right? I know you've been _dying_ to meet Aquila."

The blonde's face lit up at that, and he practically bounced. "Hell, yeah! It's not every day you meet a princess's giant attack bird!"

"Falconry was once commonly used to assist hunters in catching small prey," Ignis put in, nudging his glasses up his nose. "Nowadays, it is mostly a recreational practice. Our Lady took to it quite fondly as a child, whereas Noctis preferred a fishing pole over a falconer's glove."

Noct broke into a mischievous smirk as his sapphire blue eyes fixed on his sister, teasing, "Yeah, but Val couldn't fish to save her life. Still gets the line tangled the moment I can the rod to her, even if I cast it myself."

Spinning on one heel to walk facing forward again, Valeriana threw her hands up. "I dunno, I'm just cursed or something! Why use a fishing rod when I can train an eagle to grab things for me, anyway? I still won't ever go hungry if I get stranded out in the wild."

"You can't store an eagle in the armiger like you can store a fishing rod," Noct argued.

"But a fishing rod can't help you keep your sanity by providing you with loving company. It has no soul." Val glanced back over her shoulder at him to stick her tongue out, and he wrinkled his nose in a comical expression of amusement mixed with annoyance.

Ignis and Prompto just shared a glance with one another. As only children, they had never partaken in sibling bantering, but had seen plenty of it from the royal twins over the years. Sometimes Val felt bad, but it was just so _easy_ for her and Noct to start needling at each other.

"Come on, I keep Aquila in my room!" Val put a skip in her step as she led the way to an elevator that would take them up several floors much faster than the winding old staircases would. Both her and Noctis' living quarters were about halfway up the building, so they were neither too close to the top in the case of an aerial assault, nor to the base for a frontal attack and infiltration. It was strategic, just like how their quarters were directly across the hall from one another, so Crownsguard and Glaives wouldn't be thinned out in the case of an attack. And, now that they were older and had decently adequate combat training, so the twins could help each other if one was in danger, as terrible as that could be to think about.

Prompto was once again twisting his head to get a good look at everything as they all filed into Valeriana's living quarters. "By 'room,' you mean 'apartment?' This has to be the size of my whole house."

"Well, yeah, I guess," Val agreed, and the group paused just by the door to kick off their shoes at Ignis' pointed look. "But the Citadel is almost like a public place, so we need bathrooms and stuff attached to our bedroom so we can have some semblance of privacy. And room for a giant birdcage."

Indeed, there were some excited bird noises emanating from deeper in the residence. It warmed Val's heart every time she heard Aquila get excited for her return home, regardless of how long she was out. She was almost like a big, feathery dog, as opposed to an animal often looked at as a living, breathing hunting machine.

"You guys sit on the couch, I'll go get her. She'll be a little wound up since I was out all day," she told the boys, gesturing for them to stay behind as she scurried across the dark wooden floors of her home, her socked feet thumping softly in rhythm with her gait. The door to her bedroom, along with the en suite bathroom, were off to the left, breaking off from the main living space and kitchenette. The excited noises, somewhere between a hiss and a soft screech, were coming from the massive cage that spanned almost one entire wall of her bedroom, the ornate metal frame containing a variety of different perches and toys for the massive bird inside.

Speaking in a soft, soothing voice, Valeriana walked up to the cage and flipped the latch to open the door. "Hey, pretty girl. I'm home. Do you want to come meet Prompto? He's sooo excited to see you."

Aquila blinked her round golden eyes, beak held open in a constant cawing, hissing noise. She shuffled along her perch to get closer to her master, then expectantly held out one scaly foot armed with talons that were just over two inches long, waiting for an arm to be offered to her.

"Careful now, I'm not wearing my glove," Val told the bird, extending her right forearm out to her and holding steady as Aquila daintily stepped off of the perch and onto her arm. For a bird weighing in at about fifteen pounds and standing over two feet tall from head to toes, she was careful and graceful, her wings shuffling for just a moment as she found her balance before she relaxed and adjusted her grip on her master's arm, allowing herself to be slowly pulled from the cage.

"There's my girl..." Valeriana crooned, using her free hand to stroke some of the feathers on Aquila's chest, and letting the bird poke at her fingers with her beak, as if to make sure she didn't have a treat in hand. "You calm enough to come say hi?"

Aquila let out a strangled croaking-like noise, then closed her beak, tilting her head this way and that. She was feeling perky and a bit antsy, perhaps eager to get outside and go for a fly, but Val doubted she would act out while indoors. That was reserved for cranky days.

Raising her voice just enough to be heard by the boys without outright yelling, Valeriana called, "Alright, we're coming out! Don't shout or anything, she'll get startled. Let her get to know you."

She held her forearm close to her chest, Aquila's feathery breast leaning against her, as she moved to step out of the bedroom, emerging back into the main living space. The boys were seated together on the couch facing the television, a bookshelf filled to the brim with animal encyclopedias pressed to the wall to their left, and the door to the living quarters to the right. They had their backs to her, with Noctis lounging against one arm of the couch while Ignis spoke to Prompto, likely about some scientific trivia regarding eagles, and the blonde bounced one knee in nervousness and excitement.

Aquila started making a hissing/croaking noise again when she saw the boys, and the three of them turned their heads to look at them as Valeriana carried her across the room with an almost sheepish smile. "Here she is..."

Prompto's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when he saw the massive bird. "Whoa... she's huge! And she can actually like, fly?"

Val chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, she can fly. Females get to be pretty big, but the males are smaller. Aquila here is of a pretty average size for a Lucian Crown Eagle."

"The Crown Eagles were bred to be social creatures, as opposed to most birds of prey." Ignis, of course, tossed a bit of trivia out there, though it was perhaps to reassure Prompto of the friendliness of the bird. "Selective breeding has resulted in a breed who are as in tune with and loyal to their masters as a common hunting dog might be. They are unfortunately not commonly kept anymore, and have become fairly rare."

Shifting her arm to hold Aquila out a bit to allow the curious bird to gawk back at Prompto, Val gave a fond smile. "Not sure why, though... I love Aquila to the ends of Eos."

"Wow... you're a real bird whisperer," Prompto murmured, tilting his head in a way similar to Aquila as they observed one another. "Can I... pet her? She doesn't bite, right?"

"She only bites people she feels threatened by," Vala replied, then thought on it and added with a chuckle, "Or is annoyed with. She's not the most fond of Gladio."

"The big guy is just too loud for her liking." Noctis chuckled as well. "She should come along to my training sessions so she can bite him for me."

She rolled her eyes, then gestured with her free hand for them to slide over and made room on the couch. She carefully sat beside Prompto, easing her arm into her lap, with Aquila keeping one foot wrapped around her arm as the other plopped down onto her leg, effectively sitting in her lap now.

Prompto sort of flinched away at first, perhaps realizing just how big and sharp her beak and talons were, but then carefully held his hand out towards her. "H-hey, Aquila... nice to meet you."

Aquila tilted her head, then pecked a little at his fingers, only to be disappointed at there not being any food.

Chuckling, Valeriana pointed out, "She won't sniff your hand like a dog or a cat. Just pet her. Here, on her chest, like this." She stroked her fingers through the soft, downy feathers on Aquila's chest, and after a moment of hesitation, Prompto followed suit. She gave him an encouraging smile, knowing how much he loved animals; just like her. "There you go. See, she's a real sweetheart. I often have her out of the cage when I'm home, just letting her kinda fly around and hang out with me. She really is basically a winged dog."

Prompto was smiling from ear to ear, nodding. "Wow... she's so soft, too. Do you ever worry she'll like, fly away or something? You can't keep on her on a leash, right?"

"Well, I do have a harness and a lead for her. It just keeps her from taking off, making sure she stays perched on my arm. But I don't always have to use it." Vala gently stroked one finger over the top of her eagle's head, smoothing a wayward down feather. "She comes when called, and has some other commands, too. Any time she flies off a short ways on her own, she's always sure to come back when I call her. The lead is really only for when we're around people we don't trust as much."

"Fancy nobles wanting to see the fancy noble bird," Noctis clarified, scowling.

"Yeah. That."

"Aww... you're a living thing, though," Prompto spoke directly to Aquila, still petting her silky feathers. "Like a flying chocobo."

Ignis gave an amused snort, while Vala chuckled. "She's a lot meaner looking than a chocobo though, and isn't a vegetarian. She'll steal just about anything off your plate, though, the little thief."

"Have you ever thought about raising chocobos?" Prompto's eyes glittered at that question, his love for the much bigger, flightless birds shining through.

"Of course! But we don't have any nice grassy spaces for them here at the Citadel. Aquila is happy enough having some airspace, but chocobos need room to run." Vala sighed, imagining how great it would be to own a few of the big, beautiful birds, especially those with silver and black plumage. The Lucian royal colors. "Maybe one day."

The sound of a great fist banging on the door across the hallway came to their ears, followed by a familiar, deep bass voice, "Noct! Open up!"

Aquila hissed, and Valeriana winced slightly as she felt her talons scrape her thigh; it was hot out, so she was wearing a pair of dark denim shorts, the pale skin of her thighs unprotected from the massive, hooked claws. "Easy, sweetheart, it's just Gladio. He thinks you're across the way, Noct."

"Yeah, figured that out," Noctis sighed, hefting himself to his feet and plodding over to the door, swinging it open to say to Gladio's broad back, "You called?"

"Eh?" Gladio turned, and looked a bit sheepish when he saw the whole retinue seated on Val's couch. "Hey. The guards said you all got back. Thought you'd be in there playing some games or somethin'."

"Prompto wanted to meet the 'giant attack bird,'" Noctis replied, stepping back to allow Gladio to get through the doorway. "And Ignis was sharing some bird trivia while we were at it."

"Huh," Gladio smiled and gave an amused grunt, then jabbed his thumb at his own shoulder, indicating the tattoos scrawled over his bare skin, where his tank top didn't cover them up. "I have my own trivia. The Lucian Crown Eagle is a symbol of loyalty, bravery, and nobility. That's why we Amicitia get tattooed across our backs once we become Shields to the king."

"It's too bad the real bird doesn't like you as much as your tattoo, hm?" Ignis mused, earning a disgruntled look that made him chuckle as he rose to his feet and stretched. "Since the gang's all here, why don't we step outside for some fresh air? Perhaps Vala could show Prompto some of what a Lucian Crown Eagle can do."

"Sounds good to me," Noctis agreed with a shrug, while Gladio slung an arm around his shoulders.

Prompto sprang up from his seat, and Val followed more slowly, making sure to get Aquila calmed down and settled on her arm once more before she stood. "I need to get my glove, first. Aqi is careful, but she can't swoop in for a landing on my bare skin without shredding me to pieces. Someone wanna take her for a minute?"

"Wait, we can...?" Prompto was once again mind blown, and Val decided he would be the one to hold Aquila, stepping closer to the blonde as Ignis rested a hand against his back as if to steady him.

"Yeah, here, just... hold out your arm, like that. She's pretty heavy, so hold steady. Ignis will help."

"Oh, uh, yeah, okay--"

Gladio and Noct chuckled as the three managed to get the massive eagle onto Prompto's forearm, resulting in the blonde standing there like a wide-eyed statue, filled with amazement.

"Alright, I'll be out in a minute!" Vala chuckled, scooting back to her bedroom so she could choose one of her falconer's gloves to wear. She opted for her thickly padded practice one, custom made from black leather. It was built almost more like a bracer, since it had an armored piece that extended up her forearm, nearly to her elbow, with a small metal ring at the wrist for her to clip a lead if she wanted to keep Aquila contained. It was years old, and fairly battered, but it was the one she used when training or just playing around.

Once she had it on and tightened so it would slide around, she scurried back out to the boys, the crew all getting their shoes back on and handing Aquila over so they could head outside. They headed for one of the Crownsguard training fields so Valeriana could run Aquila through a few aerial maneuvers, and Gladio could put the whole lot through their paces with his great sword, showing off some of his Shield training and prompting a brainstorming session over what kind of weapon Prompto could train in, once they graduated from high school and he could slide into some Crownsguard classes.

Overall, it was a pretty lighthearted afternoon, one filled with laughter and time with good friends. Gladio even promised to have Iris come over so the whole lot could play some games and watch movies, plans for a slumber party of sorts already under way.

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	3. Loyalty and Light (Pt. II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Iris, who is aged up a tad to better fit with the rest of the group instead of just having a classic "little sister who has a crush on the protagonist" role. Still a bit slow, but the story will start picking up in the next chapter!

The shutter of Prompto's camera was clicking away as he crouched beside a terracotta flowerpot the size of an average washing machine, filled from edge to edge with bright orange and red marigolds. His gaze wasn't on the flowers, however, rather tilted back to watch the sky, snapping photographs of the winged silhouette wheeling and swooping through the open air, her shrieks distant but clear as she called out overhead. He couldn't take the camera lens off Aquila, occasionally shifting his stance so he could continue to follow her wherever she flew.

While their photographer friend was busy with his eyes on the sky, the others were carrying on in the open space that made up the Crownsguard's outdoor training fields. It was a hot summer afternoon, so they were currently empty in favor of using the indoor training facilities, but that just meant a bunch of teens and young adults had free rein to goof off with the sun beating down on their sweaty heads.

"Agh!" Val squeaked as one of Gladio's thick arms hooked her around the thighs, flipping her upside-down and swinging her up before throwing her to the ground in a puff of dust. The air rushed out of her lungs as she landed flat on her back, and a second later, the young Shield was poised over her, one hand pressed down on her collarbones, though it would have been a hold on her throat if she were a real enemy.

"Got ya," he chuckled, giving another laugh at the sour look she gave him from her spot on the ground.

A shriek from the air made him promptly jerk away, though, eyes instinctively going skyward as he held his hands up to shield his head, already anticipating being dive-bombed by an angry bird. Aquila simply circled over them a few times, giving a few short, softer calls that sounded like laughter, if Val didn't know any better.

That prompted a round of laughter from everyone as Gladio grumbled and straightened up, and Val shifted to sit upright on the ground, her shorts and t-shirt coated in dust. She grinned up at her opponent. "I guess I have my own little Shield up there, huh?"

"Hey, why don't you have an actual shield?" Prompto suddenly piped up, as if coming to a realization. He lowered his camera, giving her a quizzical look. "I thought--"

"Hey, guys!" A new voice interrupted his question and totally stole Valeriana's attention, because that voice belonged to the wonderful Iris Amicitia. Gladio's fifteen-year-old sister, and Val's best friend.

The princess vaulted to her feet, chirping, "Iris!"

She scampered across the field to reach the younger girl, promptly throwing her arms around her shoulders to give her a big hug, regardless of how dusty and sweaty she was. "You're here! I was starting to wonder if I'd be stuck with the boys all night!"

Iris's skinny arms hooked around her middle, giving her a tight squeeze in response. "As if! I was just a little busy helping with some things around the house today. I don't like to leave Jared to do everything by himself."

Loosening her grip on her friend, Vala stepped back, one hand reaching up to swipe a few loose hairs out of Iris' face. "Did you get your hair cut? Your bangs are different. Super cute, by the way, like always."

"Why yes, thank you for noticing," Iris preened, tilting her chin up with a smile, then turned to look at the boys, who had started to gather around. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Iris!" Prompto replied, his earlier question already forgotten, and his hold on his camera suggesting he had snapped a few endearing photos of the friends embracing a second ago. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, we weren't both with the group since... wow, I think since when we celebrated the end of school back in May." Iris lightly hooked an arm through Val's elbow, moving to stand beside her. "Guess we've all been pretty busy, even without school."

Ignis fidgeted with one of his shirt sleeves, which he had rolled up the moment they came outside, given how hot it was. "Perhaps it would do us well to plan more gatherings with one another. Might I suggest something for an upcoming birthday?" He nudged his glasses up his nose, a gesture meant to look innocent, but Val had long since recognized it as him plotting.

Iris gasped so hard Val was sure her lungs would explode, giving a little bounce. "Oh my gosh, that's right! You guys are turning eighteen soon! Like, next month soon!"

"Reaching adulthood a whole two months before me," Prompto sighed mournfully, shaking his head.

"Try two years." Iris cocked one hip out, her plaid skirt fluttering about her legs. "You guys aren't allowed to leave me behind."

"Hey, none of us will be going anywhere," Gladio reassured his sister, wiping some sweat off his brow. "The two royal pains will be here, and we'll be here with them, as their Crownsguard. You have plenty of time to catch up."

She smiled at that, then looked the motley crew up and down and suggested, "How about we go inside? You all look like you could use a shower before dinner. Do we know what we're eating?"

"Well, I suggested we lend Iggy a hand in preparing something fun," Val replied, holding one arm up to the air. She didn't even have to whistle for Aquila to come swooping in, the bird having been circling overhead and waiting to land for the past couple of minutes. As she felt the familiar weight of her eagle on her arm, wind ruffling her hair and soft feathers brushing her neck, she turned to head inside, Noctis and Prompto scooting in front of her to lead the way, while the older boys fell in behind her and Iris. "Homemade pizza isn't too hard to make, and I can't think of better sleepover food."

"As long as you don't let him put any vegetables on it," Noct complained, throwing a look over his shoulder. "That's just a waste of good pizza."

"Okay, I agree the spinach was not good, but mushrooms on pizza are great," Val insisted, holding her arm close to her chest to keep Aquila close as they entered the Citadel and started down the halls. In general, the palace staff were not as comfortable around the massive bird as her friends and family were.

Ignis sighed, but was doing a good job not fighting with them too much today. Today was supposed to be fun. Iggy could be fun. Sometimes. "Very well. We will prepare one only with toppings suited to a carnivore such as yourself, and another for those of us who enjoy variety in our diets."

Prompto and Gladio both chuckled to themselves, while Iris caught Val's gaze and shook her head. The group of six ventured back to the corridor housing the twins' living spaces, most of the guys heading for Noct's so they could take turns showering, though Ignis went with the girls. He was a gentleman, and the only one he himself trusted to be the odd man out. It would be faster if all the guys weren't waiting on the same shower, and during sleepovers when Prompto and Gladio were both over, he took the couch in Val's quarters. He likely would again tonight, while Iris slept in the big bed with her.

"You go first, Iggy," Valeriana offered, holding her hand up a bit to gesture at the bird currently perching on her. "I have to get Aquila settled. I think you still have some changes of clothes in the cabinet."

"Thank you, milady." With a nod of his head, Ignis vanished in the direction of the bathroom. He would never say it, but she could tell by his expression that he was relieved to be getting out of his sweaty clothes. He always did like to be clean and proper.

The girls shuffled into the bedroom, Val stretching her arm into the massive bird cage to allow Aquila to step onto her perch just as delicately as she had stepped off of it a few hours earlier. She would have left the cage door open to grant her free access the entire apartment, but with Gladio around, she decided not to take any chances, and shut and locked the cage. She truly was not fond of him, especially when he entered her space.

"It's weird," Iris suddenly spoke up, and Val turned to look back at her, one eyebrow raised.

"What's weird?"

Iris plopped down to sit on the edge of the bed, gesturing around. "I'm best friends with a princess, for one thing, and she isn't what comes to mind when thinking about a noble lady. All done up with pearls and perfume..." She fluffed up the edges of her bob-cut hair, like a prissy noble fussing over her look, and chuckled. "You know your way around a sword and own a bird that could probably kill my brother if she really wanted to. You're just... nothing like other girls our age, you know?"

Starting to catch on, Valeriana turned away from the cage and dusted off her shorts so she could sit beside her friend. "And what about you? You're not exactly average, either."

At that, Iris was quiet for a moment. _That's what all of this is about._

Smiling gently, she wound an arm around the younger teen, hugging her close, and Iris dropped her head onto her shoulder. "Listen, Iris... you're an Amicitia, and a strong, smart, stubborn girl besides. You can do anything you put your mind to."

"Anything Daddy wants me to do," Iris grumbled, sighing. "He and Gladdy are so protective. They don't want me to do anything. Nothing meaningful, anyway. But I want to be with you guys, here in the Citadel. I feel like I have so much to contribute, whether or not I'm a girl."

Leaning her cheek against Iris' head, Val agreed, "I do, too. I'm honestly kind of scared to turn eighteen and finish school, because being a royal kid is hard enough without suddenly being a royal adult, especially when relations with Niflheim have been sour for so long... Having you here with me would make me stronger, I think. Like our brothers. Sure, Gladio gives Noct a hard time, but... you can tell Noct feels courage when they're together."

"You really think of me like that?" Iris' voice was hardly above a whisper, and filled with something akin to amazement. She swallowed, the sound abnormally loud in the bedroom, which was quiet. Even Aquila did not utter a peep, quietly watching the girls with round golden eyes from her perch.

"Of course." Vala gave her a squeeze around the shoulders, her other hand moving to rest over Iris', which lay in her lap. "You're my best friend, and my sister. And if you can do anything, then I can do anything with you by my side."

Iris gave a happy little wiggle at that, some energy returning to the younger girl, and she lifted her hands to worm her arms around Val for another hug. She sounded relieved and pleased as she simply said, "Thanks."

"Of course." She hugged the little brunette tightly, then sat up and gave her cheek a gentle pat. "And right now, that 'anything' I need you to do is help me pick out something comfortable but not frumpy to wear."

Iris laughed, and the girls got up off the bed to amble into the nearby walk-in closet. "No yoga pants! I thought Noct was going to have an aneurysm the last time you wore them with the guys around."

"Okay, fine, no yoga pants..."

.:.~.:.

About an hour after her heart-to-heart talk with Iris, Valeriana was elbow-deep in mixing a giant bowl of various shredded cheeses, mostly consisting of mozzarella, but with some others thrown in to add flavor to the pizzas the crew would be eating. They had decided to head over to Noct's room across the hall, which was fortunately tidy enough to allow for a mini house party, so they could take turn playing on his game systems while the pizzas were made.

Ignis had taken over the countertop, having covered everything in flour before starting to separate and roll out the pizza dough, forming three round discs of bready goodness. At the stove, Prompto stirred the homemade pizza sauce, taking his turn to babysit the pot so Iris could face off with her brother in an intense game of Mario Kart. Noctis, meanwhile, organized the other toppings, picking out which ones he wanted on the pizza he would eat, and allowing the others to decide on the other two. Of course, all of his choices were meat.

"Gladio will eat the meat one," Vala pointed out, resting her arms on the edges of her mixing bowl. "And probably anything else, if we're honest. Iris and I usually order pepperoni and mushroom when we're out. You'll eat that, right, Prom?"

"Yep!" Prompto nodded, the ends of his blonde hair swaying. He hadn't bothered putting it up again after his shower, so it was messier than normal, even if his cowlick meant a chunk of it still swooped upward along the side of his head. He really did have chocobo-butt hair. "I like onion, too. That counts as a veggie for Ignis."

"I have resigned myself to a lack of vegetables for tonight," Ignis reassured them, sounding somewhat annoyed, but also amused. "The last one can be a classic pepperoni and cheese, something all of us will eat if our favorites run out."

"Sounds good!" Noctis agreed, leaving the counter when Iris' crow of victory rang out from the couch, followed by the game's victory music. He was the next up to play the winner.

They let Ignis be the one to handle putting the sauce on the pizzas, since it was hot and he was afraid of one of them spilling it on themselves, but Prompto and Vala got to help with the cheese and toppings, then arranged the racks in the oven to allow all three pizzas to cook at the same time. Dinner would be served when the timer on Ignis' phone dinged.

"Oh, speaking of dinner--" Val looked up from washing her hands at the sink, then wiped them dry on her shirt, earning a dirty look from Iggy. "I need to go feed Aquila. I'll be right back."

"Okay! We'll set the game up to be four-player after this race!" Prompto agreed, nudging Ignis. "You have to play at least one round, man."

Leaving the blonde to convince their bespectacled friend to join in the festivities, Valeriana slipped out of her brother's noisy chambers and emerged into the hallway beyond, the door clicking shut behind her. She let out a breath, a rush of cool air washing over her, then took the few steps forward to open her own door and go inside, heading for her own kitchen. A portion of her fridge was all Aquila's, holding deli cuts of raw meat and whole small animals alike. Live animals were a rare treat, since her father wouldn't allow her to keep mice or rats around... they were carriers of disease, and all too easy to be used as such by the wrong people.

Choosing a package containing a pair of whole rats out of the fridge, Val wandered over to her bedroom, smiling at the sight of Aquila resting with her feathers fluffed up, apparently enjoying a light doze. "Hey, pretty girl... I brought you dinner. I'll be back when it's time for bed, okay?"

The eagle drowsily blinked, uttering a soft churring noise deep in her chest, almost sounding like a cat's purr.

Vala opened the cage to set her companion's meal on a small platform near to the door, so she could pick them up and eat them when it suited her. It wasn't unusual for her to let them sit a few minutes to warm up a bit before eating them.

She took a moment to gently stroke one finger over the feathers on Aquila's head, the bird closing her eyes under the contact and puffing her chest out just a little bit more. It made her give a faint snort of amusement. She looked like a fluffy hatchling when she was sleepy. "There's my sweet girl..."

_"Sweet... sweet girl..."_

What sounded like a faint, whispering voice mimicking her words startled her, and Vala whipped around to look behind her, but there was nobody there. She blinked, feeling a slight pang in her head, and slowly lifted her hand to her temple. _Was I just imagining things...?_

When she listened, she didn't hear anything unusual, so she summed it up to mishearing the muffled voices of the others across the hall. She gave Aquila one last gentle pet, then shut the cage and turned to head back to the party across the hall. If something was amiss, Aquila would have alerted her to it, and all the bird did was yawn as she made her way out.

Still, something felt a bit off as she returned to the others and took a seat on the couch. She felt a little... dazed, the way she did after studying too hard for a few hours. Like her mind was too full for her to fill it with anything else, including her own surroundings.

"Hey, you okay?" Her brother's voice snapped her out of her daze, and she lifted her head to see him sitting next to her, holding one of the game controllers out expectantly. Despite the way he wore his usual distant pout on his face, his blue eyes were narrowed and sharp, ready to see right through any bullshit that might come out of her mouth.

"I'm fine," Vala reassured him, taking the controller. "Just have a bit of a headache."

"You must be dehydrated." Ignis was on his feet in an instant. "It was terribly hot today and you haven't had anything to drink since we came inside. Let me get you a glass of water. In fact, all of us could use some hydrating before we indulge in pizza and soda."

The twins made eye contact with one another, snorting and rolling their eyes. Nanny Iggy was on the case.

"Alright, let's go!" Gladio bellowed, shifting around to get comfortable on the couch, poised and ready with his controller. "I'm going to win this time."

"Oh, you're on." Val drew her feet up, knees pressed into her chest, as she quickly selected Yoshi as her character before anyone else could. She had always played as Yoshi, since she was a kid.

Noct reclined beside her, one of his arms slipping around her back, hand lightly gripping her t-shirt. Sharing a uterus meant the two were in one another's personal space since the moment their lives began, and they had always been able to share a closeness that few other people could offer them. One did not hug the crown prince during a time of emotional strain, or hold the princess's hand when she was nervous about a public appearance. People did not touch them, always remaining distant, seeing them as royals before they were kids. But together, with their friends, and in private with their father, they could enjoy something so simple as casual human contact. Neither of them could ever begin to describe how grateful they were for those little things... the feeling of Gladio's steady hand on their back, the way Ignis would just gently brush against them on his way past, as if physically checking in, reassuring them he was there, and fully present. And of course Iris' hugs, and how Prompto would offer high-fives and hand-holds left and right as his emotions suited it. It was all important. So, so important.

Glancing around the room, Vala let the tension ease from her shoulders, headache forgotten. Days like this... really were the good life.


	4. Loyalty and Light (Pt. III)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange nightmare leaves Vala dazed and confused, only to then be drawn to the Crystal by a strange, yet familiar voice. It is unclear what is happening, or why, and that leaves her friends and loved ones in a state of confusion and distress, especially Iris, who is gradually coming to make a decision about the path she wants to take in life. A path that will always lead to her best friend.

 

 

_Everything was quiet... just a deafening, heavy silence clamping down on her ears as she stared blankly in front of her. The grass was peppered with shards of shattered glass, the twisted green tendrils over her head, since the car was upside-down. Her seatbelt dug into the soft part of her shoulder, locked tight, and she could feel the warmth of her blood as it trickled from wounds across her body, a stream of it slowly dripping from the side of her head, plopping into a small puddle slowly forming on the ground. It was dark, but it wasn't cold, light flickering at the corners of her blurred vision. Fires... there were fires outside... warm, bright flames blooming like a flower along the side of the road.  
_

_She was alone in the car. Why was she alone in the car? Her brother was just here... When she turned her head, she could see him standing by the wreckage, his face covered in red and tears. Their nanny was on her hands and knees, trying to crawl back into the car to reach her. Her mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear any words, even when she was close enough to start fumbling with the seatbelt's buckle._

_Then something happened. It was so fast, she couldn't be sure exactly what, but she had seen something out of the corner of her eye. Something moving. And then Noct was gone, and the nanny turned around and screamed.  
_

_She was gone, too, after a moment, the arm of some sort of person or creature reaching in to grab her by the leg and pull her out of the ruined vehicle. All she could do was watch it happen, dangling upside-down from her seat, her vision blurring as the nanny was dragged out into the fire's light and vanished into a haze of color and shadow that swayed and flickered before her eyes, but never solidified.  
_

_She blinked, once, slowly. She exhaled. Closed her eyes. And she felt something rush through her, like a warm embrace, but from the inside, trickling through her veins, easing her pain and pulling her into sleep._

_"My sweet girl... my sun, my moon, my stars... my girl..."  
_

Valeriana's eyes opened, and they were met with the sight of her bedroom, not the bloodbath she had been witness to when she and her brother were children. No crushed car, bloodied grass, eerily motionless bodies, or fires burning on the roadside. No Marilith.

For some reason, she always woke calmly from that nightmare. She didn't shoot upright, or scream, or even draw in a gasp as she was jerked from sleep into wakefulness. She simply opened her eyes and stared ahead, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she felt nauseous, but her body still, her mind at relative ease as she tried desperately to recognize the voice she heard speaking towards the end, only for her memory of those words to slowly evaporate like the morning dew. It made her so frustrated she wanted to cry, even if she didn't understand why that was so important. She doubted there had actually been someone there, saying soothing words to her on the night of the incident. But then why did she always hear that at the end of her nightmare?

A stirring beside her coaxed her from her thoughts, and she finally drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before cautiously lifting her head to peek over at Iris. Fortunately, the other girl was still sound asleep, her face buried in a pillow and short brown hair splayed out in all directions. Doubly good, after a glance at the digital clock sitting on the nightstand; it was only just past four in the morning, and the gang hadn't dispersed for bed until nearly midnight. Interrupting Iris right in the middle of her eight hours was not something she wanted to do.

Carefully, Valeriana extracted herself from the covers and slipped out of bed, suppressing a shiver at the feeling of the crisp, air-conditioned air. No matter how hot of a summer night it was outside, the Citadel was always kept comfortably cool, undoubtedly for the sake of all the people walking about in full uniform at all hours.

She found a sweater hanging on the back of her desk chair and pulled it on over her pajamas, then quietly tiptoed past Aquila's cage to sneak out of the bedroom. The sound of Iggy's soft, even breathing greeted her out in the living room, and she could just make out the young man's silhouette in the darkness, laying on his side on the couch, her favorite flannel throw blanket drawn up over him, head pillowed on his arm. His glasses rested on the coffee table, the moonlight glinting off of them as it shone in through a crack in the drawn curtains.

Ignis didn't stir as she crept up to the door, ever-so-slowly unlocking and opening it as to not disturb him or Iris. She squeeze out of the smallest gap she could manage, grateful that the doors in the Citadel were always kept well-greased to avoid being obnoxiously squeaky, and then eased it shut again, not relaxing until she heard the soft 'click' of the latch falling into place without anyone calling out. A breath of relief rushed out of her. She made it.

Drawing her sweater a bit tighter around her, she glanced over at her brother's door, but decided against going in. She doubted Gladio would wake up even if she just swung the door open and waltzed in like normal, but Prompto would be in Noct's room with him, and he would definitely notice her attempts to wake up her sleepyhead brother. Noctis was a deep sleeper, but Prom was not, and she didn't want to have anyone but her twin privy to her nightmares. It was something they shared, between the two of them, having both been there that night... having both been hurt, nearly killed.

She swallowed back a lump in her throat, trying to push away memories of waking up alone, soon being told that Noctis was still unconscious, and severely hurt. She had been lucky to have been trapped in the car, in a way. The Marilith didn't get to her.

Shaking her head, Vala elected to just go for a walk around the Citadel to calm her nerves without disturbing any of her friends. She started down the corridor, focusing on the feeling of the cold floor through her thin socks, and the way the city lights looked through the windows, smudges of gold punctuated by bursts of color... green, red, violet, blue. Cars flitted down the well-lit streets of Insomnia, though no amount of traffic noise could penetrate the palace's walls, leaving her stranded in a heavy silence as she lingered by the window.

Slowly, her vision shifted focus, going from the sight outside, to her own faint reflection in the glass. She had much of the same facial features as Noctis and Regis, except softened, smoothed out the way a girl's face would be beside a young man's. She shared her brother's fair skin tone and glossy, feathery hair, except hers was long enough to reach the middle of her back. It was a deep, dark color, but while the sun brought out hues of silver and blue in Noct's, hers was less starlight, and more dusk, with shades of earthy brown and muted violet. And she had Regis' green eyes, instead of Aulea's blue, which she often saw looking back at her from old family portraits, taken before she and Noctis were even old enough to remember her. How it must have hurt their father, to look into Noct's eyes and see her looking back at him.

Valeriana stared back at her reflection for several long moments. She looked much like her father, with his green eyes, and brown-tinged hair. But at the moment, her own face felt unfamiliar, and she couldn't say why... but as she reached up to her face, she gently touched a lock of her dark hair, and found herself imagining if it was blonde. Not bright blonde, but a messy, reddish blonde. That color felt familiar, somehow.

_"My sun, my moon, my stars..."_

She stiffened, eyes widening, as she heard someone whisper directly into her ear. But there was no one else in the reflection in the window, and when she slowly turned her head, there was no one beside her.

Feeling her breathing quicken, Vala turned away from the window and stared into the shadows of the corridor, watching for any sign of movement. Listening for any breathing. But she was alone. Wholly, entirely alone, and it frightened her so much she wanted to turn and run for her father's room so she could throw herself into his bed like she had as a little child during a thunderstorm. Her feet started moving, taking her away from her sight of the city, and deeper into the depths of the Citadel, to the ancient spiral staircases that would take her down, down, down...

She ran down them, clutching the railing with one hand as the other pressed over her pounding heart, her breathing ragged in her throat. Several times, she nearly slipped and tumbled down a few dozen stairs, her socks providing poor traction, but she kept her grip firmly on the handrail, catching herself each time she faltered, and continuing her frenzied dash down several floors. If anyone saw her, they didn't say anything, or perhaps she just wasn't paying any attention and darted right past them. Who were they to question the princess if she so decided to run down several flights of stairs in her nightclothes? Who was _anyone_ to question her?

She was not running to her father's chambers. That much she realized as she ran out of breath, her legs aching as she half-ran, half-slid down another coil in the spiral staircase. His chambers were on the same floor as her and Noctis', not lower, but down she went, until she was even past the ground floor, delving underground.

Below the lively Citadel was a place where treasures of the royal family were kept, items with not just great monetary, but great sentimental value rested, locked away in glass cases to protect them from the wear of time. And even below that was one of the Citadel's several chambers designed to house the Crystal, something she had never seen in person, in all her seventeen years of life... her father was the only one with access to that room, the only one who knew how to unlock its secure doors and enter in the holy stone's room. Yet, as she breathlessly shuffled off the stairs and down a narrow hallway, her legs now weak and wobbly from her run, she found the door to the Crystal's current chamber hung slightly ajar, a soft blue light emanating from beyond.

Valeriana slowed to a halt just before the door, her eyes narrowing in confusion. "Why... why am I... here...?"

She swiped some sweat off of her forehead, unable to reason why, of all places, she had run to one of the Crystal's secure locations around the Citadel... the one that had the Crystal currently in it, nonetheless. And with the door open for her, as if inviting her in.

It should have spooked her. She should have turned around and alerted a Crownsguard or Kingsglaive somewhere that the door was open, and this was a serious breach in security, and they had to fix it. She should have dragged her tired ass into an elevator and gone to her father's chambers after all the drama, and cried to him about the night she nearly lost her brother.

But the voice spoke to her again, and it was louder than before. She was able to discern it as that of a young woman, soft and soothing, yet filled with an immeasurable amount of grief. _"My sun, my moon, my stars... my light, my love..."_

That strange calm fell over her at the sound of that voice, her mind settling even though her heart pounded in her chest. It was like she knew that voice, and was... excited to hear it. Happy, to hear it. Yes, she was happy to hear that voice, happier than she had ever been to hear anyone's voice. It made her heart beat even faster, fluttering like a caged bird behind her ribs, her breath catching in frantic gasps as one hand shakily reached out to pull the chamber's door the rest of the way open.

Before her stretched a large, empty room, its walls covered by ornate stone reliefs and gargoyles, while statues of knights and kings of old stood guard all along the perimeter. At the center of the room was a pedestal of sorts, and there rested the Crystal in all of its glory, bathing her in a heavenly light that oozed out of the gaping wound across its surface like the blood of the dawn.

For a long moment, Vala just stood and stared in awe at the Crystal, unable to describe the emotions running through her. Slowly, she dragged one foot in front of the other, fingers sliding off the door as she approached the Crystal. Tears welled up in her eyes, running down her pale face, but again, she couldn't explain why.

_"My light, my love..."_ The voice crooned to her, wrapping around her like a warm blanket and coaxing her closer. _"Oh, how I have missed you..."_

"I..." She opened her mouth to speak, her tearful eyes dazzled by the light as she drew ever closer. She reached out and felt her fingertips brush against the warm stone, as smooth and flawless as glass. "I..."

Darkness suddenly rushed her, accompanied by a jolt of pain so intense it left her numb and tingling in its wake. Her legs simply gave out beneath her, and she crumpled, the last of her awareness leaving her as her head thumped against the cold floor.

 

.:.~.:.

A high-pitched shriek violently woke Iris like a sword taken to her eardrums, the girl scrambling upright in bed and whipping her head around to find the source of the squalling. At first, she was confused by her surroundings, but after a moment, she recognized her best friend's bedroom, and the frantic screeching as her eagle, Aquila. The bird was wildly flapping her wings and screaming, wide yellow eyes glowing in the darkness and sharp beak held open, by all means in the throes of a terrible panic.

What was worse, her master wasn't there to comfort her. A glance to her side, and Iris could see Valeriana was not in bed.

The bedroom door suddenly flung open, and Ignis appeared in all his bedraggled glory, one side of his shirt's hem caught in the waistband of his pajama pants and his glasses missing. His face was white, eyes wide, and he looked around the room the way someone trained to handle a crisis would, demanding, "What on earth is that screaming?"

"I-it's Aquila!" Iris squeaked, scrambling to get out of bed as Ignis flicked on the lights, momentarily blinding them both. She rushed to the massive birdcage to look the eagle up and down, trying to see if she had gotten her foot caught somewhere, or had hurt herself on one of her toys or branches, but she seemed fine, aside from her obvious emotional distress. "H-hey, hey! It's okay, sweetie! Aqi!"

Aquila wasn't listening, whipping her head back and forth as she stared around with wide eyes, pupils shrunken down to tiny dots from the light. She flapped her wings again, getting enough lift to let go of her perch and grab onto the door of her cage with her hooked talons, causing it to violently rattle as she shrieked and flailed in the air.

" _Where_ is Valeriana?" Ignis demanded over the chaos, leaving the bird to her panic so he could turn on the rest of the lights in the apartment, as if to reveal their missing royal.

Iris tried to help, hurrying to the bathroom, as much as she doubted Val would stay in there at the sound of her beloved companion screaming in the other room. Sure enough, when she knocked and opened the door, she found it empty, the sink dry. "She's not here!"

"She's not anywhere in her chambers!" Ignis sounded exasperated, stooping to pick his glasses off the coffee table and put them on.

The door to the corridor swung open without so much as a knock, and Gladio appeared, squinting as he found himself in a room full of artificial light. "What is going on over here?!" Prompto hovered just behind him, with a drowsy but increasingly-awake-by-the-second Noctis beside him.

"It's Aquila! She just started freaking out, and Val isn't here to calm her down--!" Iris stammered, still having to raise her voice over the eagle's distressed cries from the bedroom. She raised both hands to run her fingers through her hair, some of Aquila's panic starting to rub off on her. Something was wrong. Something had to be _terribly_ wrong.

Noctis apparently caught on, too, because he shoved past Gladio and darted towards the bedroom with surprising urgency for someone who had a hard time waking up at a _reasonable_ hour. She saw him pause in the doorway, stare into the bedroom, and then he vanished inside for just a moment before the sound of the cage door's latch could be heard and-- "Watch out!"

Everyone in the living room ducked nearly in unison as Aquila came swooping out of the bedroom, her massive wingspan stretching across the room, tipping over a lamp and sweeping some books off of a side table, quickly followed by a vase of paper flowers, which shattered on the floor. She shrieked at the humans who dared be in her way, clumsily maneuvering herself to the door, and flitted out over Gladio's head, emerging into the open space of the shadowy corridor.

"What the hell, Noct?!" Gladio snarled, clearly unhappy with how close Aquila's talons were to his ear as she flew over his head.

Noctis simply ran back out of the bedroom and charged towards the hall, pausing only for a very brief explanation, "The only other time she's acted like this was when Val fell and broke her leg at the training fields when practicing warping alone. Let's go."

"Wh--" Iris felt a question bubble up at her lips, but then Noct was gone, chasing after Aquila. She clamped her mouth shut and just ran out behind him, doing her best to stay right at his heels, the other boys getting over their momentary shock enough to come thundering behind her. A thousand questions ran through her head, such as, _Is Val okay?_ And, _Why did she leave her room in the middle of the night? Why didn't she wake me up if something was wrong?  
_

It didn't take long for Aquila's shrieking to alert the Crownsguard, lights flicking on all over the Citadel as soldiers seemed to just materialize out of nowhere, their black uniforms having blended in with the shadows of night. Several tried to stop the youths running through the halls to ask what was going on, but Noctis ignored them for the most part, having to put all of his effort into keeping Aquila in sight. She was headed for the old spiral staircase, now rarely used thanks to the installation of elevators in the Citadel.

"Gladiolus! Ignis! What is the meaning of this?!" A familiar voice shouted above the bird's shrieks, and the older boys finally slowed, Prompto faltering as well.

For a moment, Iris felt her own steps waver, the commanding voice of Cor the Immortal being the kind that you listen to, but as she saw Noctis reach the stairs and begin his hurried descent, she knew that if she stopped now, she would lose them. So, she bit her lip and pushed on, already internally bracing herself for the verbal thrashing that was to come later for ignoring Cor, but knowing in her heart that she couldn't stop and have a chat with him if her friend was in trouble somewhere. The boys could try to explain while she and Noctis kept up with Aquila, who was now quickly outpacing them, since she didn't have to worry about stairs. Floor after floor, she went, and each time Iris thought she would stop to let them walk on solid floor again, she would dive even lower, until they had to have reached the ground floor, if not lower.

At one point, Noct hopped up onto the railing and just slid the last several meters down, somehow able to keep his balance, and he vanished from sight as he reached the bottom and charged through a narrow hall. Iris was panting for breath by the time she got near the bottom, but as she did, she noted that there were heavy doors at the base of the staircase, clearly being the kind that was normally locked up and secure, but they were open, even before Noct got there. And the hallway had another heavy door at the end of it, also hanging open, and through that doorway shone a soft blue light.

"Val?! _Valeriana!_ "

Noct's frantic voice reached her ears, and she forced herself the last few steps forward, tiredly leaning against the doorway so she could look into the room. There was a huge stone on a pedestal smack in the middle of the room, and kneeling in front of it was Noctis, holding a limp figure in his arms.

_No. Oh no._

"Vala?!" Iris cried, pushing off of the doorway to stumble into the room, dropping onto her knees beside Noctis. The only light she had to see by was what the Crystal offered, making it hard to tell if her friend was hurt, or sick, or even _breathing._ "Is she okay?! Val?! Vala?!"

Noctis shifted his twin sister in his arms, ducking his head close to her chest. "She... she's breathing okay. Val, can you hear me? Val?" He straightened up, looking down at her face as he tried to give her a gentle shake, but she just hung limply in his grasp, her dark hair pooling across the floor. Her face looked even paler than usual in the Crystal's blue light.

"Oh gods... oh, gods..." Iris felt tears burn in her eyes, hands hovering over Valeriana's prone body, but she wasn't sure what to do. "Is it even safe to pick her up? What if she fell and hit her head?!"

"No, I... there's no blood," Noctis stammered, looking from his sister to the Crystal in confusion. "Why is she here?"

Aquila suddenly swooped down from overhead, startling Iris with a squeak. The eagle had been circling the room, but was now fluffing out her feathers to look bigger, beak hanging open as she glared at the Crystal and hissed, wings held hunched above her head in a threatening manner.

"No, Aquila! It's okay!" Iris tried to soothe the bird, wondering if she would actually attack people trying to help her master, only to flinch away as the hissing was turned on her. Attacking was a definite 'maybe.'

Boots thundered on the staircase behind them, and a small group of Crownsguard poured into the room, hands on their weapons and faces hard as if preparing to walk into a battlefield. All they found, however, were two distressed teens kneeling on the floor, a third slumped limply between them, and a very angry bird hissing and carrying on.

Cor pushed his way to the front of the group, apparently not having stuck around with the boys for long, and knelt beside Noctis. His voice was calm as he asked, "Your Highness, what happened?"

"I... I don't know," Noct replied in a small voice, but he seemed to calm down thanks to Cor's demeanor, his words steadying as he added, "Aquila, she was freaking out, and she only does that when something's wrong. I let her out, and followed her down here... and Val was just, lying here, beside the crystal."

"Alright," Cor kept his voice low and even while slowly reaching his hands out, gently taking hold of the princess. "Give her here, Highness. I'll make sure she gets taken care of."

For a second, the young prince tightened his grip, but then he nodded and helped to ease Valeriana into Cor's arms, allowing the Marshall to scoop her up and make for the door. Noctis still shook slightly, looking down at his hands, and then once again at the Crystal, staring at it with such an intensity that Iris wondered if he could see something she couldn't. She didn't get a chance to ask, though, because she and Noct were pulled to their feet by the other Crownsguard and pulled from the room, followed by poor Aquila, who had to be wrangled by a particularly brave Guard and carried out with one hand around her legs and another around her neck to keep her from biting or clawing. She just continued to hiss quietly, eyes watching everyone as they thankfully only had to climb one set of stairs before being able to enter an elevator.

After a brief elevator ride, she and Noctis were taken to a sitting room, where the other three boys were already waiting, sitting around in their sleepwear as someone offered them some tea. As if that would help, after all that.

Of course, sitting in a large armchair behind a desk was King Regis himself, looking old and tired with his elbows propped on the desk, hands holding his chin. His eyes -- green, just like Vala's -- stared vacantly at the floor, though he glanced up when she and Noctis walked into the room, clearly relieved to see his son. His gaze flicked behind them briefly, expecting another person to be there, and the relief was replaced with a frown when there was none. "Noctis."

"Dad..." Noct let out a shaky breath, forsaking the couches and tea to instead walk up to his father's chair. He rested a hand on the king's arm, and the gesture was returned in kind, a father soothing his son.

"She... she was in the room with the Crystal," Iris said nervously, feeling like she was supposed to report what she had seen. She fiddled with her hands a moment, then hurriedly scurried to the couch where Gladio sat, so she could plop down and press against his side. One of his arms wound around her, and she felt herself finally start to calm down. "Noct found her lying there... we don't know why, or how she got there. The last thing any of us know, she was asleep, just like the rest of us. She was... right beside me. I didn't wake up, when she... she must have left..."

There was no disguising the guilt in her voice at that. What kind of Amicitia was she, when someone she loved went and got into trouble, and she wasn't even _awake_ to notice?

Gladio gave her a firm squeeze, and Ignis met her gaze for a moment before looking down, perhaps sharing a little in her guilt. Neither of them had noticed her leaving.

A Crownsguard stepped into the doorway, saluting with one hand on his chest as he said, "Your Majesty, the Princess has been moved to the infirmary and is stable. There is no immediate sign of injury aside from a mild concussion. She did not have a key to the Crystal's chamber on her person, nor was she properly dressed. The Marshall has already started an investigation under the suspicion of foul play."

"Foul play? What could someone gain from dragging her down there?" Gladio couldn't help but speak up, stressed and confused.

"She may not be the next king of Lucis... but she is my blood," Regis spoke up calmly, gently stroking Noctis' arm as his son stood quietly beside him. "She and Noctis both have the ability to use the Crystal's magic. It is possible someone wanted access to that power, or she heard the Crystal calling and spotted someone in the chamber without proper clearance."

He let out a sigh, then gave Noctis one last firm pat as he said, "I must speak with Cor and Clarus. The rest of you are to get some rest, if you can."

"I have to--" Noctis puffed up, starting to protest, but stopped when Regis held up one hand.

"I never said you had to rest in your chambers, Noct." He gave a small smile of understanding, then nodded. "Go."

Gladio tightened his grip on her again, so he could pull her to her feet along with him as he stood. They, Ignis, and Prompto all filed after Noctis as he led the way out of the sitting room and into the hall, undoubtedly taking them to the infirmary where they would find the sixth member of their little party.

For several long minutes, they walked in silence, but then Iris felt half a sob escape her throat, and of course they _all_ looked down at her to see her trying desperately not to cry. She hastily rubbed at her face, sniffling. "I... sorry, I just... we don't even know what happened, and..."

"It never gets any easier," Gladio told her gently, squeezing her shoulder in one big hand. "Sometimes, scary things happen to these royal pains in the ass, and you don't know how, or why. But as Amicitia, we have to see them through it, even the unknown."

Wiping tears from her brown eyes, Iris looked up at her big brother, a shaky smile forming on her lips. "R-right... w-we're Amicitia."

"Hell yeah we are." He hugged her to his side a moment, and kept his arm around her shoulders as the group started walking again, all of them feeling just a little more at ease. As a Shield, he protected his prince from harm, and, just like Vala had said earlier... he helped him feel courage, soothing his worries even when Noctis wasn't the one he was directly speaking to. Gladio's strength became Noct's strength.

_"Listen, Iris... you're an Amicitia, and a strong, smart, stubborn girl besides. You can do anything you put your mind to."_

Iris took a deep breath, recalling Vala's words from earlier. Something seemed to finally click, to finally feel right, as if each step she took towards her best friend was one predestined by fate.

 

_"And if you can do anything, then I can do anything with you by my side."_


	5. Loyalty and Light (Pt. IV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange but familiar creature by the name of Carbuncle appears in Valeriana's dreams, while in the real world, her loved ones are starting to understand what happened in the Crystal's chamber that night, and aren't happy about it.

 

_What happened...?_

The first sensations she was aware of were the aching in her head, and the fact that she was lying down... outside? Blinking open her eyes, Valeriana found herself laying curled on her side in a field of tall yellow grass, the sky overhead a clear blue, the horizon broken up only by distant mountains and the occasional tree rising up amidst a sea of wildflowers gently swaying in the breeze. No city, no skyscrapers, no Wall. Just an endless expanse of wilderness stretching out on all sides.

Slowly, Val pushed herself upright and reached up to pick bits of dry grass out of her hair. Soft fabric slid against her legs, and she looked down at her self to see she was wearing a white dress with a simple beaded design along the neckline, and a short-sleeved tan jacket embroidered with colorful thread. She smoothed one hand down the front of the dress, then fingered the hem of the jacket. She recognized the style of the outfit, having seen illustrations of similar clothes in the depictions of ancient civilizations such as Solheim. _Where did this come from...?_

A soft hum suddenly sounded off to the side, and she jerked upright, turning to see a small creature standing there in the grass. It looked much like a fox, with very large ears, pale blue fur, and a little red horn set into its forehead. It held a small leather-bound journal in its mouth, which it offered to her as it stepped closer, tilting its little head and swishing its tail.

"O... kay." Val hesitantly reached out to take the journal, glancing down at the cover, which had the image of several types of birds stamped onto the front and dyed in faded shades of blue and gold. Flipping it open, she found all of its pages were empty, except for the very first page, which seemed to have a tiny ink blot on it.

Right before her eyes, the dot of ink on the page began to move, leaving simple, clear handwriting in its wake. _Hello, Val! Do you remember me?_

"What?" Mouth dropping open, she glanced from the journal to the creature, which seemed to have a smug little smile on its whiskered face.

More words bled into the paper. _I helped your brother Noctis when he was hurt! You two were just kids then.  
_

Eyes widening, Val remembered Noctis telling her about a creature that helped him to wake up from his coma, one that resembled the little wooden figurine their father had given to him when they were young. "Carbuncle?"

Carbuncle flicked his ears and gave a little hop, chirping, and she glanced down to see the journal writing itself again. _Yes! I'm glad you remember!  
_

"You... you're a dream walker," Val said slowly, taking a moment to glance around the unfamiliar landscape they were in. "So does that mean we're in a dream right now? My dream?"

_Sort of,_ the journal wrote, as Carbuncle trotted in a half circle around her. _You fell into a deep sleep after visiting the Crystal last night. Do you remember that?  
_

"I-- yes! But... how?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Dad is the only one who can go into the Crystal's chamber, but... the door was open, and he wasn't there... and then there was that voice..."

_I opened the door._ Carbuncle looked up at her, his ears perking upright. _I do have the ability to enter the real world sometimes. I was asked to open the door, so the Crystal could call to you.  
_

"But... why?" She turned the page of the journal, so she would be able to see Carbuncle's response on the next page. "What does the Crystal need from me at four in the morning on a random night?"

Her vulpine companion squinted his eyes, but it was unclear if it was a happy or worried expression. _You and Noctis are only a month away from becoming adults, which is a pretty big milestone for you both. A lot of things are going to start changing in the next few years, though. We have been trying to wait before reaching out to you, but the Crystal grew a little impatient, you could say. The voice you heard, it was her._

"Her?" Since when did the Crystal have a gender, or was it one of the gods speaking through the stone? If so... which one?

_You'll understand soon._ Carbuncle turned away, starting to walk across the meadow. _Come with me!_

Scrambling to her feet, Vala hurried after him as he led the way through the rippling waves of grass. "Understand what?"

_It's a lot to explain all at once._

It was a little hard to read while walking, but she managed.

_We are going to ease you into it._

"Who is 'we?'"

_That's one of the things that is a lot to explain. I'm sorry, Val, I know it's confusing, but bear with me.  
_

A little sad face appeared scribbled at the end of that sentence, complete with fox ears drooping down.

Sighing, she tightened her grip on the journal, but nodded. "Okay, I get it, this is some complicated stuff involving the gods. But... where do I start? Why am I here, right now, looking like I walked into a painting in a history book?"

_In summary, we need to prepare you._ Carbuncle tilted his head back to look at the wide blue sky above. _There are entities out there that will remember you from a past life, and you need to be ready to deal with that if you're going to help Noct and Luna bring the Starscourge to an end.  
_

Past life? What was this about a _past life?_ She shook her head, trying to focus on the parts of that she understood. "So, I'm helping with the prophecy?"

_Yes. The earliest prophecies were wrong... there is more than just the King of Light and his Oracle. There is also a Gift._

"A gift? And that's me?"

_Yes._

"What does that even mean? A gift to who?"

_I can't answer that right now._ Carbuncle paused to look back at her, his dark eyes suddenly seeming to glow with an amber light. _But I can tell you that you will play a role in not only saving our Star, but in saving the line of Lucis from a fate given to them since the day the Founder King took his throne. Starting with your father.  
_

.:.~.:.

It had been over forty-eight hours since his daughter was found unconscious in the Crystal's underground chamber, and they still had no answers. Regis couldn't even think of where to start, caught up on the fact that she was _there_ , of all places. The Crystal had been moved out of its normal location higher up in the Citadel for the sole purpose of keeping it under tighter security, and putting a bit of distance between it and his children. They had been so young when they first heard it calling, and he was always afraid of them wandering into its chamber and trying to connect to its magic before they were ready. Especially after they were both involved in the Marilith attack, and suffered injuries that still weakened them to this day. He had thought he could silence its calls for just a few years, until they were stronger, but a few years turned into nearly a decade.

Perhaps he was just an old fool, afraid to let his children get their first taste of their future burdens. The Crystal was slowly stealing away his own life, after all, leaving him tired and grey despite him not having yet turned fifty years old.

"Your Majesty," Clarus suddenly spoke up from where he stood at his shoulder. "I believe there was a knock at the door."

Clearing his throat, Regis sat up and shifted in his chair, shuffling some papers around his desk. It made him feel like Noctis, trying to look busy when he had clearly been lost in his own head. There was no question who his son took after the most. "Apologies. Come in!"

The Marshall was the one who walked in, another familiar face who he could be himself around. He dropped the papers he was pretending to organize and sighed, "Any news, Cor?"

"Perhaps," Cor replied, striding across the office to stand directly in front of the desk. He rested his hands on it and leaned down ever so slightly, gazing at Regis with great scrutiny, looking at his eyes, his face, the set of his shoulders. "How are you feeling today, Your Majesty?"

Blinking, Regis leaned back in his chair, his initial response coming out of his mouth quickly, "I am feeling well." He then paused, thinking about it. He really did feel well today. A little less tired than usual, and the aches and pains that commonly gripped him had eased just slightly, allowing him to sit up straighter, and preventing his hands from shaking when he ate his breakfast that morning. His eyes didn't feel heavy as if he just wanted to return to bed, and he was already feeling a bit of an appetite again, despite normally skipping lunch.

"I feel... surprisingly well," he said carefully, rolling his shoulders. " _Unusually_ well."

Cor flattened his mouth into a line, and Clarus impatiently asked, "What is going on, Cor?"

"It's the Wall."

Both the King and his Shield stiffened, but Cor held up one hand to halt any alarmed questions they were about to have. "It hasn't fallen. It's just as strong as before, but the Crownsguard we have posted at the outskirts of the city have reported some changes."

"Changes?" Regis tried to remain calm as he questioned his old friend. The Wall wasn't supposed to change. It wasn't supposed to falter in any way. It _couldn't._

Cor shifted to stand up straight again, nodding. "The Crownsguard noticed it... 'flickered,' as they put it. After that, it seemed to return to normal, but has been fluctuating slightly. The most recent report states that the Wall has expanded by about three and a half inches."

"Expanded?" Clarus questioned incredulously.

Nodding again, Cor confirmed, "Yes."

"Surely His Majesty would feel it if the Wall were growing. It takes enough out of him as it is to maintain it, nevermind to--"

The thought seemed to strike Clarus at the exact same time as it did Regis, because his Shield fell silent in the middle of his sentence, and the King quickly grabbed for his cane, which was leaning against his desk at his side. He pushed himself to his feet with an ease that suddenly made him wrought with guilt, and hurried towards the door that Cor was already holding open for him. They both knew where he was headed, and followed at their king's heels as he moved down the halls with a speed uncharacteristic of the weary, pained man they were used to. It became clearer and clearer what was going on with every step Regis took.

Reaching Valeriana's room in the Citadel's medical wing, they found her still unconscious, resting on her back in her hospital bed with wires trailing from her chest to the heart monitor displaying a steady pulse, an IV drip slowly administering fluids into her left arm and clip on her finger reading her oxygen levels. All normal. For now.

The Amicitia siblings were both in the room as well, though Ignis and Noctis were not. Perhaps the young adviser had successfully coaxed the prince into taking some time to care for himself, such as showering, eating, and getting some proper rest. It was but a small relief to Regis, who was feeling increasingly frantic as he limped over to his daughter's bedside and rested a hand against her head, trying to sense the pull of her magic.

Sense it, he did.

"What's wrong?" Iris asked, sitting stiffly in a chair by the window, her phone still clutched in her hands. The game she was playing had the words 'Game Over' flashing across the screen, but she didn't even notice, her brown eyes wide as she looked from the king, to her father, where her gaze stayed.

Gladiolus was calmer, though no less concerned, shifting to sit upright on the couch he was lounging in. He marked his page in the book he was reading and set it aside, also looking to Clarus, who clenched his jaw as if trying to decide how to explain the situation to his children when they didn't even have all the answers yet.

"It's her," Regis confirmed in a strained, mournful tone, not understanding. How could this happen? This was what he wanted to avoid... what he wanted to protect them from. He gently smoothed his hand over his daughter's hair, watching her face as she peacefully slept on, despite the strong flow of magic he could feel tethering her to the Crystal, and subsequently to the Wall. When had she taken the burden from him? He hadn't even noticed, since his own connection to the Crystal hadn't wavered in the least. He could feel it now, flowing into him... into him.

_Into him._

"By the gods..." He breathed, closing his eyes and ducking his head.

"What?" Gladio demanded, earning a sharp glance from Cor and Clarus, silently warning him to watch his tone around his king. The young Shield didn't falter, however, simply repeating his question, "What's going on?"

"If I am not mistaken..." Cor began slowly, eyes trailing over to his distraught king. "Her Highness is currently the one holding up the Wall."

A strangled squeak escaped Iris, and her phone clattered to the floor before skidding under Gladio's couch. "What?!"

Clarus thankfully swooped in to start asking the important questions, approaching his children and asking them sternly, but calmly, "Did she mention anything to you before about this? Any plans to try to assist His Majesty with the Wall?"

Iris stared at him like a deer in the headlights, still in a state of shock, but shook her head. Gladio took another moment to think it over, rubbing at his face with one hand and leaning forward in his seat to rest his elbow on his knee. "No, never. She and Noct both talk about it sometimes... about seeing the way it affects His Majesty. But they've never tried a stunt like this. I don't think they'd even know how, if they wanted to."

"B-but... even if she did, would she be... why would she be unconscious?" Iris fretted quietly, and Clarus gently pulled her to her feet when her breath caught. She leaned her head into his chest, grabbing onto his jacket with both hands as he slipped one arm around her small frame. "The King can handle the Wall just fine. Why not her?"

"That is not all she is doing..." Regis finally found his voice back, and all eyes were on him. He kept his head bowed, looking down at his daughter's face. She really did seem to just be peacefully sleeping, though her lips were a little pale, her eyes shadowed despite having been in a state of repose for the past two days. Her eyelids didn't even flicker as he gently stroked her hair again, completely shut off from the world around her. "I am still connected to the Crystal, but rather than it drawing energy from me, it is... giving it back."

That was why he felt so much better already. It would make sense for him to feel a _little_ healthier without the strain of the Crystal, but not to so quickly be healing from it, enough to have his pain ease, his appetite return. The Crystal wasn't just giving him a break, it was taking life from his daughter and giving it to him. Healing him, like a constant flow of magic curative flowing into him after years, _decades_ of slowly breaking him down. But how? Why now?

Nobody said anything. They didn't understand any more than he did.

Tightening his grip on his cane, Regis finally turned away from his gradually ailing child, instructing the others in the room, "Someone must inform Noctis. I will be going to see what I can ascertain about this situation from the Crystal itself."

"I'll... go find Noct," Gladiolus rose to his feet, pausing beside Clarus just long enough to share a glance with him, perhaps seeking comfort, perhaps questioning their limited knowledge. Then he turned away to hurriedly stride out of the room, off to find out where Ignis had taken Noct.

"I'm... I'm staying here," Iris said quietly, but her voice had steadied. She was always such a strong girl, despite the vast amount of grief and pain she had witnessed in her young life. "I'm staying with her."

Regis didn't wait to hear what Clarus said to his daughter, instead forcing himself to leave the room before he, too, felt the urge to stay there with Valeriana. Cor followed after him, and he was thankful for that, even more so when he didn't bother with small talk or asking pointless questions. He was busy trying to think of what _he_ was going to say if one of the gods did answer him through the Crystal, nevermind what he would tell Noctis if he failed to fix this soon.

He could only hope he got some answers.


	6. Loyalty and Light (Pt. V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Princess awakens.

 

The grass gently brushed against Valeriana's knees as she followed Carbuncle across a vast, flowering meadow. She couldn't help but stare at her surroundings, taking in just how... _open_ everything was. Back in the Crown City, she was surrounded by concrete and glass on all sides, with plant life only coming in the manicured variety, flowers planted in gardens and grass kept trimmed at parks. She hadn't truly been _outdoors_ like this since she and her brother visited Tenebrae as children. Out here, though, it was nothing but wilderness as far as the eye could see.

As her wide green eyes roved over the landscape, her mind turned in circles, trying to grasp everything that Carbuncle had told her so far. It was all disjointed bits of information that simply didn't make any sense. She could understand the part about her brother being the King of Kings, and Lunafreya being the Oracle. Both were destined for great things, supposedly being the force that would bring about the end of the Starscourge and the hoards of demons that it produced. _How_ they were supposed to that was still... frankly beyond her understanding. The Crystal had deemed it so, however, and surely that meant they would also succeed in saving Lucis from Niflheim's clutches, considering the Empire used daemons as weapons.

But nothing had been said about her, as far as she knew. What role could she possibly play? She was simply the bonus in the two-for-one deal. The prize at the bottom of a cereal box. And here she was, being told she had to save her own father from a fate unknown.

"What happens to my father?" She asked slowly, though her eyes trailed over the horizon, taking in the jagged shape of the mountains, purple in the distance. "How is me being here helping?"

She gave Carbuncle a minute or two to write his response in the journal she carried, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from the picturesque view. It was beautiful, but also... hauntingly familiar, in a way. Another thing that didn't make any sense.

After a moment, she shifted her gaze to the journal, reading what Carbuncle had written. _In the waking world, you're doing something amazing! You connected with the Crystal when you fell asleep, so right now, you're helping your Dad by supporting the Wall in his stead. He's worried about you, but he's already starting to heal from the effort of keeping up the Wall by himself for so long. By the time you wake up, he'll be feeling much better! Having him be strong is important for the things that lie ahead._

"Wait, I'm holding up the Wall right now?! Wouldn't I feel that?" She tried to notice if she was feeling any different, but everything seemed normal.

_You're in your dreams right now, so you can't feel anything that's going on in the real world. It seemed the kindest thing to do so we could talk to you and have you rest from the effort of using the Crystal at the same time._

Giving a dry chuckle, Vala shook her head. "Okay, so, let me get this straight... my destiny is to be a living battery for the Wall so my Dad and brother don't have to worry about it?"

Carbuncle jumped at that, whipping around to face her with his ears upright and tail bristling. He gave a soft whine, and words appeared on the journal's next page. _Oh, no! Don't think that, Val!_ A sad face sketched out on the page, little ink tears trailing down its face. _As the Gift, you have a special connection to the Crystal. It goes beyond just the Wall._

"Then show me." She deadpanned, adjusting her grip on the journal. She _was_ suddenly starting to feel a little ill, her hands getting sweaty as her body temperature seemed to rapidly rise. "You keep dancing around the truth. Just come out with it."

For a moment, Carbuncle just looked at her, then seemed to heave a deep sigh through his tiny lungs, ears twitching. _Okay.  
_

He turned to start leading the way again, but paused. _I'm going to show you a few things to help you remember, and then you're going to wake up. I can't show you everything at once, but it will be a start. When the right time comes, you'll remember more.  
_

He started moving forward again, trying to muster up some of his previous cheer. _This way! We're almost there._

Deciding that this was as good as it was going to get, Val followed the little creature the last few meters to their destination, which seemed to be just an ordinary little spring bubbling up by the roots of an ancient willow tree. Its surface was clear, reflecting the sky above, the bank lined with smooth stones and thick reeds. Just an ordinary little spring, indeed.

Carbuncle seated himself on a large rock in the sun and curled up, nodding his head towards the spring. _You can leave the journal here. I'll keep it for the next time we meet!_

"Alright..." She closed the journal and knelt down to set it against the stone where Carbuncle rested, and the little creature reached his head out so he could brush his muzzle lightly against her arm. A pang of guilt when through her as she recalled how harsh she had been towards him a moment ago, and she gently stroked his cheek with the back of her knuckles, prompting him to close his eyes and swish his tail. "I'm sorry."

She couldn't tell what he said without the journal, but judging by the tone of the soft murmur he uttered and the way he gazed at her with his big, dark eyes, she assumed she was forgiven.

Straightening up, Valeriana turned her attention to the spring. She gathered the skirt of her dress in her hands to hold the hem up, cautiously creeping up to the water's edge, wading in just up to her ankles so she could peer down at her reflection in the water's mirror-like surface. What gazed back at her was shocking; a young girl with eyes the color of honey and long, wavy hair that spilled down her back like the rays of the dying sun, shimmering with hues of gold and red.

That hot, dizzy feeling came back with a vengeance, and she found herself tipping forward, hands reaching out to her unfamiliar reflection to catch herself. The young girl looking back at her held her arms out, and as Vala hit the water, it was like she was taken into someone's tight embrace, only to be dragged deeper underwater, her surroundings morphing from a quiet spring in the middle of a great field, to the shadowy depths of the sea. She instinctively wrapped her arms around the one holding her, but the strange girl vanished, leaving her arms empty as she sank.

Vibrations hummed through the water, a harsh shriek sounding from far below, and out of the void came the maw of a massive sea serpent. Its eyes shimmered in the darkness, jaws opening wide into another earsplitting shriek, and then it shot out from the shadows like a snake striking its prey, nearly skewering Vala on its beak-like face as it rocketed past, causing her to flinch and open her mouth to scream. She choked as water flooded her mouth, closing her eyes and clutching at her throat, but a second later, she was thrown from the water, tumbling across a hard, flat surface that was most definitely not grass.

Coughing, she opened her eyes to find herself in the middle of a burning city, buildings falling around her as a massive daemon screamed to the sky, raining fire down upon the earth from the glowing cavities in the growths upon its shoulders, which gaped open like the maw of the sea serpent. She hurriedly raised one arm to shield her eyes as a cloud of dust rushed towards her, momentarily blinded, and once again, when she looked up, her surroundings had changed, this time showing a massive demon-horned man leaping through the sky with a woman in his arms, her golden hair streaming out behind her as she hung limply in his grasp, a single feathered wing dangling from her back. Where the other wing should have been, there was a gaping wound that poured clotted black blood, as if her body was already decaying even as the burning man desperately tried to carry her away, running... running from something, or someone...

The earth suddenly opened up and swallowed her, a startled gasp rushing from her throat as she found herself falling backwards into the void once more. She could hear voices calling, some familiar, and some strange.

"As treaty room tempers flared, blasts lit the night sky. When the smoke about the Citadel had cleared, the king was found... dead." _Gladio--?!_

_"Entrusted_ it to me? Then why didn't he tell _me_ that?! Why did he stand there smiling as I left?! Why--?! ... Why did he lie to me...?" _Noct!_

"There was _nothing_ we could do!" _Iris? Iris, no--_

"Honestly, I don't know for sure if they're going to accept me for who I really am..." _Prompto?_

"I don't... want to die... without him..." _Ignis?!  
_

_"Walk tall, my son."_

Her back hit the grass, and she lay there, dazed, for a long moment. Her heart was pounding, blood roaring in her ears, but she could feel the sun on her face... it calmed her even as she lay there, drawing in ragged breaths. After a moment, she could hear a voice calling in the distance, growing steadily louder as it drew near. Hesitantly opening her eyes, she saw a young man and a boy standing over her, looking down at her with amusement on their faces.

"Fall asleep again?" The child, no older than seven or eight, chuckled as he looked down at her, blue eyes sparkling and dark hair stained with shades of violet and blue as the sun set behind him.

The older boy chuckled, bending down to offer her his hand. "Come on. Let's go home." He was somewhere in his teen years, with a wide smile that quirked up higher at one end in a perpetual smirk, the kind of look that made you want to laugh along with him and smack him at the same time. His amber eyes shone with warmth, dark, reddish hair pulled back into a ponytail away from his face.

Slowly, she reached out to place his hand in his, feeling her heart finally steady at the way his fingers wrapped firmly around hers. It was familiar, comforting, and at the same time, something she felt she had bitterly missed over the course of her life, if not somehow even longer than that. He pulled her to her feet, and she found herself reaching out with the other hand to grasp the sleeve of his white tunic, not wanting him to let go.

A woman's soothing voice whispered in her ear as she stood with them, filled with love and pain all the same, _"My sun, my moon, my stars..."  
_

And that was when the screaming started.

.:.~.:.

 

"Are you serious?" Noct's sapphire blue eyes were wide as he stared up at his Shield, sitting opposite Prompto on the couch as they played a game of King's Knights on their phones.

"She sounded _dead_ serious when she told us last night," Gladio replied gruffly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Pop is supposed to take her to talk to the King and the Crownsguard today to see when she can start training. She knows some basics, but has a lot of catching up to do if she's actually going to become a Shield herself."

"Wow, I... didn't know she had it in her." Prompto set his phone in his lap, sitting cross-legged with his back leaning against the arm of the couch. His gaze traveled across the room, to the bed settled in the midst a myriad of different medical machines and the small figure nestled among the blankets and pillows. "I was kinda wondering why Val doesn't have a Shield. I mean, aren't all the royals supposed to have one?"

Ignis piped up from where he sat in a chair in the corner, can of ebony in one hand and a book in the other. "Only those born to the King's bloodline. Of course, there hasn't been a case of there being more than one surviving heir to the throne for as long as the Caelum line has been in power. Needless to say, it's unprecedented. There has only ever been a need for one at a time; one Shield for one King."

"Do you think Val will let her?" Prompto shifted in his seat, stretching out his legs to get more comfortable, which resulted in his feet being in Noct's lap, but the Prince didn't seem to care. He was too busy staring out the window, lost in his own head. "I mean, they're super close and all, so I don't think that's the problem. But Iris is like, the youngest of us. We all see her like the kid sister of the group, y'know?"

Gladio snorted, crossing his arms as he looked down at his own royal charge, taking in the distant look on his pale face. "Yeah, well, we Amicitia are stubborn. I don't think her Royal Highness has a choice in the matter."

At that, Noctis finally cracked a smile, responding to the conversation happening over his head. "Yeah, right." The smile vanished quickly, though, overtaken by the even-more-sullen look that had become the norm as of late. "After the past few weeks, she doesn't have a right to deny any of us. We've all been worried sick."

The guys fell quiet at that. Those first few days of Valeriana's seemingly Crystal-induced coma had been spent trying to figure out the reasons why it had happened, but the Crystal itself provided no answers to either the King or Noctis, only uttering soft whispers about love and light. All of Vala's personal staff and guard had been questioned about if they had ever heard her speak about trying to reach the Crystal, but just as her friends had stated, she had lamented about her father's health, but had never voiced any plans to try to interfere. She and Noctis didn't even have key guards that granted them access to the Crystal. It was only with the King's permission that they, or anyone else, could enter that room.

Days had turned to weeks, and now it was mid August, with the twins' birthday rapidly approaching. The media was starting to question what sort of grand celebration there would be in honor of their eighteenth birthday, as well as to spread around rumors that the princess was ill, considering she hadn't been seen outside of the Citadel in so long, and no birthday gala plans had been announced. The rumor mills were throwing around theories about training injuries and illness, as well as the odd extremist opinion that there had been a secret assassination attempt.

No one outside of the Citadel knew that the King was no longer holding the Wall, but that was only because they weren't there to see him going about his daily life. Everyone within the palace reveled in the changes the King had undergone in only a few short weeks, the Crystal's healing accelerating his recovery like a constant stream of potions and elixirs being pumped into his body. He was able to walk without his cane for the first time in a decade, the old injury to his knee still leaving him with a slight limp, but not nearly so pronounced. He stood taller, moved with more ease, and the roots of his hair were even tinged slightly brown, color returning to his skin and hair alike as new life grew within him. He seemed more his age, a man of 48 years rather than 60. It was nothing short of a minor miracle.

Yet, while a miracle slowly cured the King, a curse ate away at his child. Valeriana had not suffered any extreme symptoms as of yet, which was a relief, but she had lost a fair amount of weight; enough to make her shoulders and collarbones jut out against her body just a bit too much for comfort, her cheeks hollow, and hands so very small and fragile. Her hair was dry and thinning, her face pallid, all the color leached from her cheeks and lips. Even now, as she lay with an oxygen tube down her throat and all manner of sensors and IVs attached to her, she looked nearly as white as the bed sheets.

Several moments of silence ticked by before Noctis spoke again, barely above a whisper, "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Perhaps... she herself didn't know," Ignis suggested, lowering his book. "I, too, doubt she would plan something like this without telling you, Noct. Perhaps the Crystal called, and she knew not why."

"I still think there's foul play involved," Gladio grumbled, shifting his weight from foot to foot before uncrossing his arms so he could drop a heavy hand onto Noct's shoulder. "No way she would have even gotten in there on her own. She didn't have a key, remember? Someone brought her down there..."

"But why? It is hard to think anyone could have a reason for exposing her to the Crystal, or that this would happen as a result." Ignis lifted his pale green gaze to Gladio, nudging his glasses up his nose.

Gladio turned to face him. "I'm just saying--"

"Uh, guys--?" Prompto nervously spoke up in that moment as well, voice shaking slightly.

"Enough," Noctis interrupted with a bad-tempered groan, rubbing at his face. "We don't have answers, and we're not going to get any until she wakes up."

"Uh, yeah, about that," Prompto reached out with one hand to smack Noct's arm, the other pointing towards the bed. "Look!"

The guys all turned to fix their eyes on the hospital bed, at first not seeing what Prompto was getting at; their first instinct was to glance at the life support monitors, looking for a sign that things were going terribly wrong. What they found was that the heart monitor was rapidly picking up, going from a steady, slow beat of someone who was asleep, to the rapid, shrieking pulse of someone trying to sprint away from a Cerberus with a broken leg.

Ignis was quickly on his feet, murmuring, "We should alert the medical staff. This could be a cardiac episode--"

"Val?!" Noct lurched off the couch, dodging around Gladio to reach his sister's bedside, panic in his eyes. "No, no no no..."

Before Prompto could fly into a panic and Ignis could reach the door to call for help, however, Valeriana's eyes suddenly snapped open. A hoarse, strangled noise tore out of her, a scream muffled by the plastic oxygen tube going down her throat, and she grabbed the sides of the bed with bony fingers to pull herself upright. She grabbed a handful of wires on her chest, ripping them off, while in the same moment her other hand reached out into the air, only for a dagger to materialize with a flash of blue light.

One moment, she was in the bed, and the next, she had thrown the dagger and warped across the room, shoulder slamming into the opposite wall as she materialized. That single point-warp seemed to be enough to send her into Stasis after having the Crystal feed off of her for so long, however, and she slid down the wall to crumple onto the floor, curled up into a ball with a bit too much skin showing, considering she was wearing nothing but a hospital gown.

"Val!" Her brother vaulted over the medical equipment that had been scattered across the floor during her clumsy warp, the IV tubes leaking everywhere and oxygen tube ripped from the respirator. He dropped to his knees beside his twin, rolling her onto her back so he could pull her into his arms. "Val? Hey, stay awake-- look at me!"

Eyes hazy, she obeyed the order, forcing her eyes open to look up at him. For a moment, it seemed as if she would just pass out again, but then she furrowed her eyebrows and whispered in a crackling, hoarse voice, "Noct?"

A shaky smile came to the Prince's face, and he nodded, ducking his head to rest his forehead against hers. "Yeah... yeah, it's me..."

Ignis approached the pair of royal siblings, shrugging out of his suit jacket so he could drape it over his princess. "It's good to see you are awake. Don't fall asleep now, you've been sleeping for far too long already."

"Yeah, it's Noct's job to sleep all the time!" Prompto piped up, his voice trembling slightly as he grinned at them over Ignis' shoulder.

Gladio was out in the hallway, hollering in that deep, bellowing voice of his for someone to get their asses over there _now_ because their patient was rather suddenly awake.

Valeriana herself slowly lifted one hand to touch her brother's face, fingertips trailing down his cheek. She smiled, then, a blessed expression that somehow reached her eyes despite how fragile she was in that moment. "I'm... so happy... to see you..."

"Yeah, me too..." He rested his hand over hers, squeezing her small, cold fingers. "Just... please. Never disappear again."


	7. Loyalty and Light (Pt. VI)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is a bit lackluster in terms of descriptive writing, except for the bit at the end. It was written in chunks and kinda cobbled together like a puzzle. X'D Between the holidays and work, I just haven't had the most focus!
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the continuation, we'll be getting into the good stuff soon!

 

 

Plain chicken soup had never quite tasted as good as it did right then. It was little more than broth, having just a little chicken, rice, and vegetables in it to give it substance, but it was absolutely heavenly in Valeriana's mouth as she slurped it off a spoon, trying to pace herself so she didn't make herself sick like the medical staff feared she would. Who could really blame her, though? She apparently hadn't eaten in weeks, sustained on nothing but IV fluids and prayers.

She even managed to ignore how awkward it was having a small crowd of people surrounding her, watching her eat. The doctors had rushed in when she warped right out of her nightmares and ended up on the floor, moving her back to the bed and checking her over, as well as cleaning up the mess she made with the medical equipment scattered everywhere. Aside from a bruise on her shoulder from colliding with the wall, and of course an excessive amount of weakness that made her hand shake so much it was difficult to eat her soup, she was doing alright... questions about exactly what had _happened_ to her would wait until after her much-needed meal. Both questions she needed to ask, and ones she needed to answer, judging by the looks on everyone's faces.

Regis was seated right beside her bed, occasionally reaching out one hand to steady her arm if she struggled to get her spoon to her mouth. Helping, but not feeding her like a baby, which she was grateful for. Though, she kept finding herself glancing up at him, thinking that something was... different. He definitely looked a little different. Younger, maybe? Or maybe she was just going crazy after being comatose for so long. He just smiled gently at her when he noticed her staring at him, a mix of sorrow and genuine happiness in his eyes, and then encouraged her to pause eating to sip some water.

Behind the King loomed his Shield. Clarus was a silent, solemn gargoyle, jaw clenched and his arms folded across his chest, making him look just like Gladio. His son, however, along with Ignis and Prompto, had been sent out of the room, making things a bit less crowded, but a bit more serious. Having some of her friends around would have lightened the atmosphere just a bit, but as it was, she had a group of old men and her poor, distraught brother...

Noct was standing at the window, fidgeting and occasionally pacing a bit, with Drautos standing next to him, keeping an eye on the Prince as if ready to stop him if he... she didn't know what. Imploded?

Finally, she dropped her spoon on the tray in her lap and picked up her bowl to down the last little bit of her soup, not caring if it wasn't very ladylike. She wanted every last bit of her meal, even if just the small serving of broth and a bit of water had her feeling as full as she did after a holiday feast.

Letting out a content sigh, she set the bowl down, glancing up at her father with a tentative smile. He returned it, just as tentatively, and nudged her chest to encourage her to lie back against her pillows, which she did. He took the trey and set it on the side table next to his chair, then leaned over the bed just a little bit to rest his hand over hers. His fingers felt warm... warmer than usual. Or was she just cold? She curled her bony fingers around his much larger hand, savoring that little bit of body heat as she shakily drew her blankets up with her other hand.

"Okay..." Vala croaked, wincing at the scratchy feeling in her throat. "Anyone wanna tell me why I'm in a hospital bed...?"

Noctis spun around in the middle of his nervous pacing, snapping just a bit too harshly, "We were _kinda_ hoping _you_ could answer that." He gestured towards the door with one hand, adding in a raised, nearly frantic voice, "I found you in the _Crystal's chamber_ , just... just laying there! What were you thinking?!"

"Noctis." Regis fixed his green eyes upon his son, a gentle warning in his tone.

Val herself just frowned, watching her twin brother rake his hands through his messy blue-black hair as he shook his head and started pacing again, shrugging off Drautos' hand when the Glaive tried to reach out to him. He was absolutely distraught, which was understandable... they had been in one another's places before, after the Marilith attack... but unlike that incident, there was no clear answer to this one. Because, no matter how much she wracked her brain, she couldn't remember a damn thing before the moment she opened her eyes and saw his face looking down at her, maybe just an hour before. She just got the vague impression of dreams about beautiful golden fields, and even more obscure nightmares... she thought she remembered seeing fire? But that was all.

She started to shake her head, but that made her dizzy, so she just squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before rasping, "I don't know... I don't remember anything after we all went to bed that night."

"Are you positive?" Clarus gently pushed, stepping forward to look down at her over Regis' head. "You don't remember getting up that night? Anyone speaking to you, or... threatening you? Harming you?"

"N-no..." That was a scary thought. Someone could have dragged her down to the Crystal against her will and left her there for dead. But... why? Why the hell would anyone who had access to the Crystal want to drag her down there?! And what happened that left her comatose for so long?

Regis squeezed her hand, reaching out to stroke some of her oily hair back from her face. "It's alright. You are safe now."

Clarus let out a breath through his nose, a barely suppressed sigh, and glanced over at Drautos. "The only ones with access to the Crystal, aside from His Majesty, would be the royal advisors and the Kingsglaive."

"I'm well aware," Drautos replied, clearly strained. Val opened her eyes to see him glaring at Clarus, almost heated enough to make her think he wanted to smack the Shield upside his bald head, but he remained relatively composed as he squared his shoulders and added, "Our investigation is getting nowhere, and you know that as well as I do."

"Then I believe the best course of action would be to ensure something like this does not happen again." Regis leaned back in his chair, joining in the conversation. "Both the Prince and Princess will have trusted guards with them at all times, even within the Citadel, until we know who is the snake. Noctis, you have your own Shield, and two young Crownsguard who had already sworn themselves to you, so I trust you will be comfortable with such an arrangement."

Her brother had, indeed, whirled around as if to protest, but upon realizing that Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto could count as his protection detail, he nodded. Though, he did gesture over to her bed, asking, "What about Vala? She doesn't have a Shield, unless you count Iris, who hasn't started training yet."

Wait, what? "Iris?"

"If we are dealing with a Glaive gone rogue... the best way to protect the Princess against that threat, especially while in such frail health, is to assign trustworthy Glaives as her protection," Drautos ventured cautiously, though without any doubt in his voice. "There are some who were not at the Citadel during the incident, and who I would personally trust with the kingdom's own crown."

"But... what's this about Iris? Training?" Val squeaked in her soft, pained voice, gently shaking Regis' hand to get his attention.

Her father silently waved her off for the moment, which made her wish she had her voice back so she could scream, but she just closed her mouth and listened as he replied, "I understand, Drautos. It is vital that we still trust in the Glaives... we need them now more than ever."

And they were restless. Valeriana wasn't involved with the Glaives near as much as her father or Drautos, but she knew enough to be aware of the anger and unrest in their ranks, as they felt more like hired guns than recognized warriors of Lucis. Bestowing such a responsibility on them could help ease some of their concerns, and maybe even give her a chance to talk with some of them. She could hear them out, at least, even if there wasn't much she could do to change their situations at the moment.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Clarus asked, his eyes flicking over to Noctis as the Prince moved, but it was only to drag a chair over to the bed, opposite the side Regis sat on. He plopped himself down in it, and Val was quick to accept his hand the moment he reached out, not even minding the way he held her fingers just a little too tightly.

"I do, as a matter of fact." Drautos strode across the room to stand by the other men, their conversation officially seeming to no longer include either royal twin. "Nyx Ulric and his partner, Libertus Ostium. They like to push their luck with me, but you won't meet a more honest pair of Glaives. I'll select one of the women as well, to accompany the Princess where she might prefer not to have the company of a man... perhaps Crowe. She's young, but dedicated. That would be three, just as the Prince has three guard. Though, they may of course watch over the Prince as well, when his young Crownsguard may not be up to the task. They're fully trained, professional soldiers, as compared to a group of fledglings."

Noctis narrowed his eyes a bit at that, but just leaned down to whisper in his sister's ear, "Ignis could take Drautos any day."

Wrinkling her nose, she gave a soft snort of laughter and whispered back, "You kidding? Prompto is so unpredictable, nobody could hit him, and Gladio is too stubborn to lose to anyone, even a Glaive."

Her father must have consented to that selection while she and her brother snickered at one another, because when she tuned back into the conversation, Drautos was saying, "I'll have them report back to the Crown City immediately for reassignment."

Clarus begrudgingly nodded, perhaps having preferred to trust the Crownsguard over the Kingsglaive, but there wasn't much arguing with Drautos' logic. Unlike Noctis, who was perfectly capable of warping, using magic, and otherwise defending himself right now, Valeriana was too weak to hold a spoon steady, nevermind a sword. She needed some top-tier protection, at least for now. Until... Iris?

"Okay, what about Iris now?" The sickly princess shook her father's hand again, and this time, he turned his attention to her. "Noct mentioned training...?"

"That might be something best discussed between the two of you," Clarus said gently, withdrawing his phone from the pocket in his jacket's lining. The screen flickered to life, and he scrolled through a surprisingly long list of messages he had been ignoring. Though they were ominously devoid of emojis, she had a feeling she knew who they were from, especially when he sighed and started to type a brief response. "Sooner, rather than later, it would seem. Gladiolus must have told her you've woken up."

"She's probably outside, waiting to duck in here the first chance she gets," Noct deadpanned.

"She will have to wait just a moment longer. There is one more important matter to address." Her father was speaking again, now holding her hand between both of his as he stared into her eyes. Uh-oh. "Valeriana... you do understand that when you came into contact with the Crystal, you took the burden of the Wall, don't you?"

For a long moment, she just stared at him, not quite comprehending his question. "The Wall...? As in, the _Wall?_ I'm...?" It seemed ludicrous. She didn't even know _how_ to form the Wall. But, at the same time, it made a whole lot of sense when she glanced over her father's unusually lively features again, and then inwardly became aware of just how exhausted and frail _she_ felt now.

"Not only are you holding up the Wall, but it has been gradually expanding while under your control," Regis continued, his voice so soft, despite the look of anguish in his eyes. "At first just by inches, but then by meters, and miles..."

Noctis shifted in his seat. "How far is it now...?"

"The latest reports state that it has extended beyond Hammerhead," Clarus replied calmly. "Cor tells me that most of Leide is now under its protection."

Swallowing, Vala shifted to better face her father, insisting, "I... I didn't do it on purpose. I don't even know _how_ I did it, or... or how I'm expanding it. I really don't know... I-is this why someone might have taken me there? To make me expand the Wall, to protect more than just Insomina? I... I _know_ people are angry about that... but I don't even know how I'd know how to comply with that... I didn't do _any_ of this on purpose."

"Hey, I... _we_ believe you." Her brother leaned over her, eyebrows lowered over his sapphire blue eyes. "You'd tell me if you were planning something stupid like this. Someone must have made you do it, and... maybe somehow knew you could? Or that this would happen outside of your control?" He looked to the adults for guidance. "Glaives can communicate with the Crystal, right? They can access its magic, so they must be able to use it... someone must have known this would happen."

Drautos looked almost like he had a stomach ache, but to his credit, he _still_ didn't lose his temper. "I will keep a close eye on anyone who is suspect, and contact Ulric and the others immediately. If you'll excuse me, Your Majesty."

Regis simply nodded, allowing Drautos to hurry to the door.

Of course, the moment the door was opened, a small figure dove under Drautos' arm faster than Aquila could snatch a fried shrimp from Valeriana's fork. Iris managed to get into the room, but then collided with her father, who was quick to step in her way and catch her against his chest, halting her frantic lunge towards the bed. "Iris--!"

"Told you..." Noctis muttered softly, his eyelids drooping almost sleepily as he turned his gaze to the window, lost in thought again.

"Let her through--!" Vala coughed, releasing her brother and father so she could shakily reach her hands out towards her best friend, waving off Clarus' attempts to calm his daughter with a clumsy jerk of her arm.

The girls' fathers relented easily enough, Regis rising to his feet and moving aside to allow Iris to take his place, while he moved to a corner of the room to speak more privately with Clarus, both men keeping on eye on their children even as they bowed their heads close together and spoke in soft, stern tones. More business, then.

Iris didn't even bother with the chair Regis had vacated, throwing herself to her knees beside the bed and grabbing onto Val's hand as she rapidly dissolved into tears. "I... I was..." She pressed the princess's knuckles against her cheek, holding onto her hand and wrist as gently as she could, as if just then realizing how thin and fragile she was. Tears ran down her flushed face, catching on bits of hair that clung damply to her cheeks and chin, and she sniffled in between breaths. "Y-you're okay..."

Turning her hand a little so she could press her palm against Iris' cheek, she gently held her best friend's face as she cried. She spoke in a near-whisper as she reassured her, trying to prevent her voice from cracking, "Yeah, I'm okay... just... took a really long nap. But what's this about you...?"

Shaking her head, Iris looked up to meet Valeriana's eyes. Her own gaze was already bloodshot from her crying, but there was determination in the set of her jaw nonetheless, and her voice hardly quivered as she said, "I-I'm not letting something like this happen again. I... I'm going to train to be your Shield. L-like you said, I'm an Amicitia... I can do anything. And this is what I'm going to do."

"Doesn't she have any say in it?" Noctis asked, but he had a faint smirk on his face, already knowing the answer before Iris fixed him with a stubborn glare and set her mouth into a pout.

Val actually managed a chuckle, stroking Iris' cheek with her thumb. "It's... it's okay. If that's what you want..."

Her attention sliding back to her best friend, Iris smiled, sniffling loudly as she tried to regain her composure. "Yeah."

Noct smiled as well, giving a faint sigh as he reached across the bed to grab the box of tissues on the side table, tapping the cardboard against Iris' arm until she freed one hand to take one, obediently wiping her face and blowing her nose so she'd stop trying to snort it all back up.

Laying her head back against her pillow, Valeriana drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as her eyes slipped closed. "Gods, even though I slept for weeks, I'm so tired..."

"Well, you're still holding the Wall, as far as we know," her brother mumbled.

"Just rest, and we'll all be here. I promise," Iris added, sounding much calmer now, though her voice was still a little thick from crying. She gently laid their clasped hands back onto the bed, folding her fingers neatly between Val's.

Val hummed in response, already drifting off again, but into a lighter, normal sleep this time. Still, her dreams of wildflowers and a child's tears came back for her, filling her mind with visions of beauty and sorrow alike.

 

.:.~.:.

 

Perhaps some part of him was still mortal, because he still needed sleep, as much as he loathed it. He had formed the habit of snatching rest just a few hours at a time, praying that images of his past would stay away long enough for him to get enough energy to function. If he tried to stay in bed for more than three or so hours, he would be plagued with sweet dreams and bitter nightmares that were equally painful to experience, stirring up the memories of the life he had long left behind after being caged like some animal on that infernal island.

He had been unfortunate enough to sleep for five hours last night, and found himself in tears when he awoke, laying on a luxurious bed in the middle of a dark, bland room whose walls were composed of dull metal plating. He could hear a young girl's laughter ringing in his ears, and still see her face smiling back at him in his mind's eye as the dream slowly faded... all rosy cheeks, green eyes, and curly hair the same brilliant gold as the sun's rays, only just slightly tinged with auburn. She was the sunrise on a clear summer morning, cradling a boy as dark and blue as midnight in her arms, their round, youthful faces leaning together as they smiled and looked up at him. He could remember reaching out to join their embrace, the feeling of their soft hair under his hands, smelling of rose soap and sweet hay.

_"Big brother--!"_

Hissing in a pained breath, he shoved himself upright on the mattress and roughly raked one hand through his wine red hair. Golden eyes glowed softly in the darkness as he looked around his barren room, haphazardly furnished with luxury items that seemed terribly misplaced here.

He slipped out of bed, the floor cold under his bare feet, and walked over to the vanity, staring at his shadowy silhouette in the mirror. Lifting one hand, he reached out to lightly touch his own face in the glass, bitterly muttering the name he had given himself in this new world he had awoken to some twenty years ago. "Ardyn. Ardyn Izunia."

The glass squeaked softly as he let his fingertips drag along the mirror, before dropping his hand. He could feel sorrow, fatigue, and anger alike squeeze his heart as he added softly, "And they'll never guess who Izunia was."


	8. Loyalty and Light VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a pretty long one this time! Introducing everyone's favorite Glaives into the story. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed, it really helps encourage me to keep writing!

"This has to be some kind of a joke."

 

"You keep saying that, and yet here we are."

 

Nyx looked up at Crowe, making a bit of a face at her from where he sat in a rolling desk chair by a table, which was long enough for easily two dozen people to sit at with plenty of elbow room. Its black surface was polished to a shine, reflecting the light that shone in through the windows spanning from floor to ceiling along one wall of the conference room, the sky outside clear and blue, sun shining, as if the weather was taunting him for being stuck indoors back at Insomnia when he would much rather be out with the other Glaives, defending Lucis' borders. Especially with the Wall having been expanded, allowing them to push out further than they had in years, reclaiming lands that had been terrorized by demons and the occasional Imperial patrol. This was the _single_ most exciting time to be a Kingsglaive in all of his career, yet he and his friends had been given orders to return the crown city by Titus Drautos himself, forcing them to leave their comrades and scuttle back behind the Old Wall, not having any idea as to what prompted this "reassignment."

 

Libertus was the most relaxed one in the room, though he had always struggled with nerves out on the battlefield. Being in the comfortable, air conditioned meeting room in the Citadel was a welcome break to him as he leaned back in his chair and sipped on a bottle of water, his brown hair fresh and brushed after his first real shower in a week and braided into a somewhat lumpy rope on the back of his head. There was a light smile on his clean shaven face. "Hey, things are finally looking up for Lucis. Maybe we've got some important mission related to the Wall expanding."

 

"If that was the case, we wouldn't have been called back to the city. Especially not just the three of us," Nyx griped, folding his hands together and tapping his entwined fists on the glossy table. It was left smudged where he touched it. 

 

"Well, what did you do _this_ time to piss Drautos off and make him feel the need to recall you just when things started getting good?" Crowe asked from where she stood by the windows, her arms crossed. 

 

Libertus snorted at that, his smile widening into a teasing grin. "Yeah, it always is you, Nyx." 

 

"I didn't do _anything!_ " He threw his hands up in the air, digging his heels into the floor to push his chair back away from the table. He slouched back against the faux leather, dropping his hands onto the armrests as he stared up at the ceiling. "Just following orders like everyone else while the Wall ran away from us in our sleep. Why haven't we heard anything about why the Wall suddenly tripled in size, anyway? The King suddenly decide he cares about his people after all?"

 

_"Nyx."_ Crowe's voice was as sharp as her eyes as she shot him a stern look. "Don't talk like that. Especially here." She glanced around, as if expecting the King himself to march in and slap him with treason. 

 

Nyx just shook his head, adjusting the jacket of his uniform. Even with the air conditioning, it was too hot to be sitting around in full uniform with the sun shining in through the windows, and he was starting to sweat. He was also bored, and annoyed that he had been sitting in that damn room for going on forty-five minutes without anyone showing up to tell him what was going on. 

 

"Maybe that's why we're here," Libertus suggested amiably, swiveling his chair back and forth a little. "To hear what's up with the Wall."

 

"Again, they would have just sent the news out to all of the Glaives."

 

"Maybe we're special."

 

"Ha. Yeah. Right. The only thing special about us is how many times Drautos has punished us by putting us on guard duty," Crowe snorted, turning to gaze out the window at the glistening cityscape. 

 

Libertus frowned at that, seeming to pout a little as he just took another sip of water to save himself from having to come up with a response right away. He was trying very hard to be positive, and Nyx felt a _little_ guilty for raining on his parade, but he just couldn't think of a situation where being called back to the Citadel was a good thing. It was _always_ a bad thing, at least in his case.

 

The sound of the doorknob turning made all three of them look up, just in time to see the door open to finally reveal Drautos, looking as calm and collected as always despite being decked out in even more gear than his soldiers. He stepped inside, oddly silent as his gaze swept over the three of them, taking a moment to scan each of their faces, as if looking for something. When his eyes fell on Nyx, he couldn't help but sit up a bit straighter, not seeing any of the usual exasperation that would make his mouth set firmly in one corner, his thin brows furrowing together. No, the expression he wore was very controlled. Unreadable. It unnerved him a little, not that he would ever admit it.  

 

With a soft click, the door shut behind him, and Drautos finally addressed them, "Ulric. Ostium. Altius. I apologize for the wait."

 

Libertus had the courtesy to rise to his feet and press his hand to his chest in a salute to his captain, mimicked by Crowe, though Nyx remained seated, staring intently at the older man. Drautos could give off weird vibes all he wanted, but Nyx still wasn't convinced that this "reassignment" was something he was even remotely interested in. 

 

"Right. You wanna tell us why we're here?" He tightened his grip on the arm rests of his chair, shifting in his seat. "Don't tell me Lucis needs more traffic cops running about while the Wall is miraculously being expanded." 

 

Drautos gave him a sour look that was far more familiar to him than the strange, controlled calm he had on his face a moment ago. "No, Ulric, this is not a punishment. I called you three here because regardless of your tendencies to disobey direct orders and your obvious problems with authority, I know I can trust you with a mission of sensitive nature."

 

Crowe raised her eyebrows, just as surprised as Nyx to hear that. "What kind of a sensitive nature are we talking about here, Captain?"

 

He gestured for the others to take a seat as he pulled out a chair for himself, sitting down and leaning forward with his elbows on the table. He laced his fingers together, waiting until Crowe and Libertus had taken seats across from him, on either side of Nyx, before he began, "Everything I'm about to tell you is classified. As in, cannot be discussed with anyone, including the other Kingsglaive. _Especially_ the other Kingsglaive. I want as many of you to remain in the dark about this for as long as possible, until my investigation is complete."

 

"Wait, _investigation?_ What's going on?" Nyx shifted in his chair to lean forward, rather than leaning back. His interest had just been piqued, and he finally dropped the idea that this was going to be some lame reassignment as punishment for the last time he had sassed his superiors. 

 

Drautos sighed heavily through his nose, a somewhat pained look on his face. "Cor and I are currently investigating the Glaives, particularly those who have been stationed here in the Crown City for the past few weeks. We have reason to suspect that one of them -- at _least_ one of them -- was able to coerce the Princess into entering the Crystal's chamber, using their clearance to get her inside without anyone else knowing about it." 

 

He reached into his jacket, pulling out a manila folder, which he flopped onto the table before flipping open, pulling out three stacks of papers stapled together, and sliding one towards each of his Glaives. Nyx pulled his closer and skimmed over the front page, enough to see that it was an incident report dating back to last month. In fact, it was the very night when the Wall was reported to have "flickered" before starting its slow but steady progression across Leide. 

 

Amid the sound of papers rustling as the three tried to speed-read as much as they could at once, Drautos continued, "The Princess was found unconscious in the Chamber, the burden of the Crystal and the Wall passed on to her. She was comatose for over two weeks, and awoke with no memory of what happened that night."

 

Nyx felt his stomach clench at the thought of one of the royal heirs lying prone in a hospital bed. He didn't know the Prince or Princess personally... he had no reason to get to know a pair of spoiled kids, nor had ever been in charge of them... but they were still just that. Kids. Unlucky enough to be born into a position of power they couldn't get away from, targets on their heads from the day they came screaming into the world as mere infants. 

 

"As far as we know, she is still bearing the Wall. It is perhaps her lack of control that has caused it to expand the way it has. Perhaps this is what the traitor wanted, when she was dragged down there. Perhaps they wanted something else from the Crystal."

 

"Just speculation?" Crowe murmured, flipping through her copy of the incident report.

 

Drautos nodded, giving another one of his sighs out the nose. "That's all we have. So far, we have no clear suspects, regardless of their intentions."

 

"And the Princess?" Nyx inquired, dropping his papers back onto the table to meet Drautos' eyes. "What about her?"

 

"She awoke the day I sent you your reassignment. Because she _is_ your reassignment," Drautos replied, causing the three to all freeze and stare at him as he continued, "The Princess is awake and has been deemed stable by medical staff, but she is very weak after what happened to her, and we currently don't know if or when she will recover. Considering the fact that something like this happened right here in the Citadel, and she is now far too feeble to protect herself from a particularly rowdy butterfly, nevermind an actual threat, it was decided by the King, Clarus, and myself that she should have a proper guard. Her brother has three young Crownsguard in training and his own two hands, but Princess Valeriana will have you three."

 

Libertus whistled softly, his hazel eyes so round that Nyx was pretty sure they would pop out of his head at any moment. "We're gonna be the Princess's guard detail? For real?"

 

Their Captain gave a nod, saying slowly, "Out of all my Glaives, I trust you three." He looked up at Nyx, adding firmly, "I trust _you_ , Ulric. I trust you to act in the best interests of the Princess, without hesitation. I need someone with good instincts and the ability to make their own decisions, as blindly following orders could result in the unnamed traitor being able to reach her again, if they are a member of staff here. You three will answer to _no one_ aside from the King or myself, and only if you hear the words straight from our mouths. You will not leave her unattended for a single moment, and should the need arise, you will assist in the protection of the Prince as well, given his own entourage is still in training. For the foreseen future, you will live by their side here in the Citadel."

 

Nyx was reeling, trying to wrap his head around what was happening. He wasn't being punished for his insolence, far from it... he was being given one of _the most_ important assignments of his life because of it. Because he could be trusted _not_ to follow orders. How ironic.

 

"Any questions?"

 

He lifted one hand to run it through his dull black hair, leaning back in his seat once more. _Well, I guess I'm about to meet one of those royal brats._ "Yeah. When do we start?"

 

.:.~.:.

 

Valeriana gently blew on her fingernails, trying to speed up the drying process on the fresh layer of eggshell polish. She had chosen a lighter color that wouldn't be as obvious on her skin, given she was having her brother help her paint her nails, and he wasn't exactly good at coloring in the lines. He was still working on her right hand, sitting beside her on the couch with the tiny brush held far too tightly between his thumb and forefinger, dabbing clumsily at her nails. 

 

"You do know it's just supposed to be on my nails, right? Not my whole hand?" She teased lightly, her voice still sounding weak to her own ears, but at least not so gravelly and hoarse anymore. Most of the soreness in her throat from the oxygen tube was gone, thank the gods.

 

Noctis made a face, complaining, "Your hand is shaking. It's not my fault." 

 

"Mmm." She hummed in response, smiling at him, and glanced up at the television hanging on the wall between a pair of bookcases. They had turned on some random movie channel prior to settling down together, hanging out in her personal quarters, just the two of them. Well, the two of them and Cor, who was hanging out just outside the door, awaiting the arrival of her new guard detail. It was weird, to have three highly trained, uniformed strangers on their way to insert themselves firmly in her life for however-long. She didn't know anything about them, but they would be living with her. She was more nervous about that than them being her guards, since she was used to the Kingsglaive and Crownsguard being around. Just... it had never been quite so _personal.  
_

"What're you thinking about?" Noct asked, turning her hand to have an easier time reaching her thumb, so he could finish up his clumsy paint job. 

 

Eyes still on the screen, seeing but not really watching a movie about a young boy taming a wild chocobo, she replied, "The Glaives that are about to become my babysitters. Kinda hard not to, waiting around for them to show up. It was today, right?"

 

"Yeah, as far as I know."

 

"How're the guys handling their new Crownsguard stuff?"

 

"Okay, I guess. Ignis and Gladio are already pretty much official, just young still. Inexperienced. Prompto is looking to become official after he turns eighteen this fall, so he's doubling down on training. Already planning on the three of us having the exact same schedules when school starts up again so he can protect us low-key."

 

"Right, school... you think we'll actually be allowed to go?"

 

"Dad was on the fence, but I think Iggy and I managed to convinced him. Said that if we hole ourselves up here, it'll just make it more obvious something is wrong... as if the Wall thing wasn't obvious enough. I think he wants to keep it a secret you're holding it up, so the cover story right now is you came down with pneumonia brought in from a staff member with an elderly relative, and are now on the mend."

 

"Pneumonia? In _summer?_ "

 

"It happens, and there actually is a maid with an elderly mom who was recently sick. So, it should stick."

 

"Except I lost a ton of weight and can't even walk around on my own."

 

"It was _really bad_ pneumonia."

 

She chuckled, drawing her hand back as he released her, so she could start blowing on the wet polish on those fingers, too. "I guess it's good to know my own cover story. What are they saying about the Wall?"

 

Noct put the cap back on the bottle of nail polish, then leaned over to set it on the coffee table, alongside the snacks and drinks waiting there. Val wasn't able to eat large meals yet, obviously, but she grazed on small things throughout the day. She had a good twenty pounds to gain back, at least. "They're dodging the subject. Anytime someone asks, they just spit out some line like, 'It is the duty of the King to protect his people,' bla bla bla. How are you feeling about it? I mean... do you feel it? The Wall?"

 

"Hmm... not really..." Val shifted to snuggle into the pillows tucked against her sides, meant to help hold her steady even as she sat. "My entire being is really weak right now, and I can feel _that_ , but I don't feel myself getting any _weaker._ Like... I feel like I'm getting better. The Wall hasn't started shrinking again, has it?"

 

Her twin shrugged, plucking his can of ginger ale off the coffee table and taking a sip. "Not that I've heard. It's not growing anymore, either, though."

 

"I guess we'll have to see what happens with it, because I still have no idea how to turn it off. Or give it back to Dad." Another weird thing in her life now. She just happened to be subconsciously supporting the magical barrier that protected Insomnia, and now a solid chunk of the Lucian territories. 

 

The two fell silent for a moment, both of them still uncomfortable about all the mystery surrounding what had happened that night. Vala had no recollection of it at all, not even able to remember her dreams clearly, despite knowing she had been dreaming while in her coma... she could just remember glimpses of a blue sky, golden grasses, and fire... fire _everywhere._ Maybe it was more of a nightmare than a dream.

 

Heaving a sigh that broke the silence, Noct pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going to heat up some food. You hungry?"

 

"A little." She let him wander over to the small kitchen located behind her, knowing it would make him feel better to see her eating. Judging by the sounds of pans clunking about, he wasn't just going to heat up something, either. He was actually a half-decent cook, thanks to the part-time job he had managed to hold onto for a few months last summer, under a fake identity. Like some fast food secret agent. His skills were still nowhere near as good as Iggy's, though.

 

She tried to turn her attention to the movie as her nail polish dried, finding some normalcy in the smell of makeup fumes and the sound of a knife rhythmically tapping against a wooden cutting board. The stove clicked as it heated up. A pat of butter sizzled faintly in the bottom of a pan, accompanied by the scent of caramelizing onions. Noct was making omelets. 

 

Val was just about to doze off to the comforting sounds and scents of her brother in the kitchen, when there was a knock, and then the door opened just a smidge. Cor called in, "Your Highnesses? May we come in?"

 

_They're here._ She woke up pretty quick as she realized her new guards had arrived, and they were about to walk in to see her nestled in a pillow nest on the couch, coffee table pushed aside to make room for the ottoman where her legs rested. Blankets piled on her scrawny frame, hair a mess, wearing a black hoodie with a cartoon chocobo grinning on the front of it. A wheelchair sat patiently by the arm of the couch nearest to her, out of the way but within easy reach. She knew she didn't have to impress these guards -- in fact, _they_ were supposed to impress _her_ \-- but she still wished she looked a bit more presentable for their first meeting.

 

Noct walking over and handing her a plate with a steaming omelet on it was a pretty good distraction from her inner girl problems. She gratefully took it from him, setting the plate on a pillow in her lap so she could take her time poking at it with a fork, shrugging one shoulder at her brother, who plopped down beside her with his own plate and called to Cor, "Yeah, come in. We're just eating some lunch."

 

Val focused on chopping up her omelet with the side of her fork, mixing the eggs and vegetables up with the cheese and green onions her brother had sprinkled on the top. His was lacking in the vegetable department, just having onions, peppers, and some diced ham, as well as significantly more cheese, but he still made hers with the whole shebang. Gods, she loved him for it.

 

As she stabbed a bit of piping hot egg and tucked it in her mouth, five people entered her living quarters, filing in and closing the door behind them before making their way over to the living area. At the head of the group was Cor, followed by Drautos, and behind them were three people she didn't recognize. They were all young adults, somewhere in the span of their twenties, with the one woman among them seeming to be the closest to the twins' age, and the men being closer to thirty. They were dressed in black, like all Glaives, and stood neatly at attention, arms folded behind their backs, shoulders squared, chests puffed up proudly. Yet, she didn't miss the way their eyes were glued to her, taking in the pitiful sight of their princess, pasty white and nothing but skin and bones as she hunkered in her nest on the couch.

 

"It's good to see you with an appetite," Drautos greeted her politely, perhaps trying to break the ice. 

 

Cor chuckled, one eyebrow quirking up. "Omelets for lunch?"

 

"I was cooking," Noctis replied, pretending to be disinterested as he slumped across the couch and ate his food, but she could see the way he glanced up at the guards from behind his veil of dark hair. He was really good at pretending to be distant when he was actually paying attention. It was something even Ignis had a hard time with, often frustrated by how aloof her brother could appear.

 

Val nodded, deciding to join in the casual conversation, hoping her guards would see she wasn't really the sort to be all stuffy and formal. She really didn't want things to be unnecessarily uncomfortable and distant with the people who would be watching her every move from then on. "I can appreciate some twin brother comfort food. Nobody makes eggs like Noct." 

 

Cor's smile warmed slightly, and he then gestured to Drautos. "Well, as much as I regret intruding on your time together, we do have some introductions to make. Drautos?"

 

Drautos stepped forward, giving a slight bow before beginning in a more formal tone, "This, Your Highness, is your new guard detail. I would like to introduce Nyx Ulric and his companions, Libertus Ostium and Crowe Altius. They are some of my finest Glaives, and I would trust them with my own life ten times over. I hope that can bring you peace of mind."

 

The one introduced as Nyx took a small step forward to stand in front of his companions, bowing. He looked like what she would expect from a Glaive; tall, fit, with fierce gleam in his blue eyes, though he was a little scruffy, black stubble trailing along his jaw. Something about him was oddly familiar, though she couldn't say for sure if she had seen him before. Libertus was a bit on the chubby side, and looked a bit nervous to be there, while Crowe was fairly slight, and _very_ beautiful, with warm cinnamon brown eyes and tousled brunette hair that framed her confidently smiling face nicely. Vala couldn't help but be curious about them.  

 

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Vala told them, resting her fork against her plate. "I would get up to properly greet you, but that's a bit beyond me right now. I hope none of you mind a pretty quiet few weeks, since this will be our scene for a while." 

 

Nyx's mouth twitched in a half-smile, or maybe more of a smirk. "Of course, Princess." 

 

"It's a pleasure to be here," Crowe said formally, resting one fist over her heart. 

 

Libertus nodded. "Yeah. We'll do whatever is needed to keep you safe, Highness."

 

She raised one hand, adding, "Please, call me Vala, at least when we're in a private setting like this. Neither my brother or I are one for all the formalities." 

 

Noctis simply grunted, already nearly finished with his food. She had barely put a dent in hers. 

 

"The study next door has been converted into sleeping quarters for you all," Drautos addressed his soldiers, gesturing to a door off in a corner of the room. "It is connected to the hallway, but also directly to the Princess's quarters. At least one of you is to remain in her quarters with her at all times. I don't care what she's doing or where she is, you have direct line of sight or as close as you can get to it. I suggest you three work out a schedule that works for you and the Princess."

 

"Sir," the three replied in unison, nodding, then followed him as he led the way over to the door to the study-turned-bunk. Val's bookshelves were still in there, loaded from floor to ceiling with the reading material she had collected over the years, but she had heard furniture being moved around, and could only assume the other furniture had been removed to add in beds and the like for everyone. 

 

Cor watched the Glaives go as Drautos continued droning on about the rules and protocols of this assignment, then turned back to the twins, relaxing a bit. He moved to kneel beside the couch, looking up at them with a soft look on his usually hardened face. "How are you two doing?"

 

"Okay." Vala shrugged, rubbing at her eyes a little. "Just hanging in there, I guess. The shock of it all has worn off, but it's still a lot to think about. And I keep having these dreams... nightmares, really."

 

"Are you talking to someone about it?"

 

"Noct. You, now. I don't want a therapist or something. It's not that bad."

 

"If it gets worse, do inform your father." He gently rested a hand on her knee, and she nodded, unable to say no. Cor was a soldier, always a little tough on them, but he was also like a stern uncle. They knew he cared, both about them and their father. They weren't just his job, they were his family. 

 

Noctis set his empty plate on the coffee table, shifting to sit closer to Val, a warmth against her side. He addressed Cor as he asked, "Do you know much about them?" He nodded his head to the door leading into the study.

 

"Only what Drautos has told me. I haven't worked closely with the Glaives very often. They and the Crownsguard function individually," Cor replied honestly. "But Drautos speaks highly of them. They are good people, as well as good soldiers. He trusts them to be loyal, and not involved in whatever happened that night." His blue eyes hardened slightly, his next words spoken as Captain of the Crownsguard. "Should you suspect any ill intent at all, you come to me, or your father. Drautos believes the best way to counter a bad Glaive is with another Glaive, due to their magic abilities, but I would still personally trust my Crownsguard more."

 

"The guys and I will be around to keep an eye on things," Noct promised. "Until we know we can trust them."

 

Vala glanced towards the study, where Drautos' voice still drifted in, droning on. She still couldn't help but think she had seen Nyx before, some instinct deep in her gut telling her that everything would be fine with him there, and she could trust him. "I think it'll be okay. I dunno if I'm a good judge of character, but I think Drautos is right about them. Besides, there still isn't any proof there _was_ a Glaive involved... especially since I can't remember anything..." 

 

Cor patted her knee. "Give it time. There's a chance the memories could come back to you."

 

She doubted that, but nodded anyway, then glanced down at her plate. She had only eaten about half of her omelet, and hadn't any appetite left. "You want this, Noct?"

 

He reached over to take it, picking around the vegetables he didn't like, but at least most of it wouldn't go to waste. The two had always had a habit of helping each other clean their plates; as kids, he'd eat her potatoes, and she'd eat his greens, when their father wasn't looking. She never did like the texture of potatoes that weren't in some fried form. Still didn't. 

 

Cor smiled at them fondly again, then straightened up as he heard footsteps coming from next door. The Glaives were returning, apparently done with their brief tour of their new living quarters. 

 

"Your assignment begins now," Drautos said simply, stopping to nod to the royal twins, then heading for the door. "I have to get back to my investigation. Cor, are you coming?"

 

"Right behind you." Cor reached out to ruffle Noct's hair, earning a displeased grunt and a swat with one fork-wielding hand, and chuckled to himself as he followed after Drautos. "Behave yourselves."

 

"We'll try," Vala replied with a faint laugh, then yawned. "Some troublemaker I'm gonna be."

 

The two older men paused at the door to look back at them, then nodded to each other and quietly left. The door softly clicked shut behind them, then locked. And then there were five.

 

"Oh." Vala blinked, suddenly remembering something important as she looked up at the three young Glaives, who seemed to be looking about the room to decide on the best places to stand guard while on shift. "None of you have a fear of raptors, right?"

 

"Raptors?" Nyx questioned, looking at her like she just asked if they had a fear of the bogeyman.

 

"As in big, predatory birds. I have an eagle," she explained, jerking a thumb back to point at her bedroom door. "Her name is Aquila, and she lives in my bedroom. She's trained and everything, but I didn't want you guys to be surprised when she comes back from the veterinarian who was keeping her for me while I was in a coma." 

 

"You... actually keep an eagle? In your room?" Nyx blinked. "I thought she was looked after by the palace staff."

 

Vala shook her head. "No. She's mine, I take care of her. Well, when I'm healthy enough to, anyway... I'll need some help for a while. I think she's too heavy for me to lift right now, especially with one arm."

 

"Just try not to impersonate Gladio in the attack bird's presence," Noctis teased, trying to unsettle them. "She hates the big guy." 

 

"She doesn't _hate_ him. She just doesn't _like_ him." She swatted her brother's arm, reassuring the Glaives, "Aquila won't actually attack you without provocation or command. And she'll be in her cage most of the time, at least until she's used to you. I normally like to give her free reign when it's just me, or I have Iris over." She pointed out the various heavy-duty bird perches sitting about her living space, the way potted plants might be set in convenient locations by windows. They certainly weren't just ornaments, despite the fancy molding and engravings on their metal posts. "But we'll take it slow."

 

Crowe smiled, the expression making her eyes seem all the warmer. "Sounds like fun. Good to know I'm protecting a princess with some interesting hobbies."

 

That made Vala smile in return. "I try." She then yawned again, quickly apologizing, "Sorry, I'm still... really tired."

 

"No worries, Highness. You get your rest." Libertus thumped a fist against his chest. "We'll stand guard."

 

Noct deposited her plate, now with just a few scraps of green on it, with his own on the coffee table. He drew his legs up on the couch, shifting to lie down with his head against one of the many pillows piled around his sister. "Sounds good. I could go for a nap, too."

 

"Mm. Okay." Val rested a hand on her brother's head, gently combing her fingers through his soft, dark hair. After a moment to adjust the couch to recline back a bit, she drew her blanket up higher on her chest and snuggled down into the cushions. It was weird, settling down to sleep with three near-strangers hanging out in the room with her, but she was too tired for her anxiety to keep her up, and it only took a moment for her to start dozing off, her brother's head a comforting weight against her thigh. 

 

.:.~.:.

 

Nyx just stared at the teenagers laying on the couch together, still trying to process everything. He thought he was ready to walk in and see his new charge, but hadn't quite expected a totally normal-looking, albeit sickly girl huddled on the couch with a cheesy movie on the television. She looked a bit older than he thought, they both did, reminding him they were on the verge of turning eighteen later that month... but she also looked like absolute _shit._

 

"Looks bad, huh?" Crowe mused, coming to stand next to him. "Worse than I thought she would."

 

He shook his head, glancing from the Princess to the Prince, unsure if he was really asleep, or eavesdropping. It was difficult to get a read on the sullen raven-haired boy. "I know using the Crystal's magic takes a toll on someone -- I've felt it myself. I've never seen it like this before, though."

 

"Gotta work on your bedside manner," she warned him, glancing up at him with those sly brown eyes of hers. "We're going to be doing more than standing around guarding, if that wheelchair is anything to go by." 

 

"We're not getting paid to be nurses."

 

"We're getting paid to protect her. I think that includes protecting her from collapsing on the floor. And you've seen the way Drautos and Cor act around them..."

 

"We're not Drautos, or Cor, last I checked."

 

Crowe rolled her eyes. "Just _try_ to actually care, okay? You don't have to be her best friend, but given we're going to be spending months, if not years together while her Shield is trained up, I think being _a_ friend is a necessity." With that, she walked over to the couch, carefully picking a throw blanket up off the back of it and unfolding it to drape it over the Prince, who was breathing deeply with his eyes closed. Nyx still couldn't tell if the little bastard was asleep or not. He hadn't entirely missed the way he had been looking at him earlier, when they were first introduced. 

 

Nyx sighed. He wasn't good at anything emotional or overly personal. He was a soldier. It was what Drautos had trained him for, what he excelled at, and though he didn't exactly _want_ someone to come after his royal charge, he did wish the nature of the job was a bit more of what he was used to. He was the "hero" among the Glaives, but now he had to be some frail girl's hero. "This is gonna be a hell of a ride..."


End file.
